Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 06-40023-GAO.
March 27, 2007
ORDER
The petitioner, Kevin Taylor, an inmate at Federal Medical Center Devens, Massachusetts ("Devens"), has filed a petition for habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, by which he challenges the disciplinary procedures and penalties imposed upon him. Specifically, he alleges that he was denied due process because his disciplinary hearing was not timely held in conformity with regulations of the Bureau of Prisons ("BOP"), that the evidence at his hearing was insufficient to support a finding of guilt on the disciplinary charges, and that the sanction of forfeiting "good conduct time" credits was unlawful because good conduct time, once vested, may not be taken away. The respondent moved to dismiss the petition for failure to state a claim. That motion is GRANTED, substantially for the reasons advanced by the respondent.
Taylor's first claim — denial of due process — is frivolous. He was given notice of the disciplinary charges against him and at a hearing on the charges he was able to contest them. His claim apparently is that the hearing was not held within the time permitted by applicable regulations. While some delays might be so great that they would be substantially prejudicial, the fifteen minute delay in Taylor's case was de minimis, if there was a delay at all. (The regulation in question — 28 C.F.R. § 541.15 — says that hearings should "ordinarily" be held within three days of the alleged infraction, suggesting that some flexibility is permissible.) Even if there had been some minor failure to conform to the regulation, the mistake would have to have been far more serious to come close to denying Taylor's due process of law.
As to the second ground, Taylor's position is that the evidence was insufficient to support an inference that he acted with the requisite punishable intent. Intent is typically a matter for inference from the underlying circumstances. Here the circumstances, not contested, were that Taylor had a bag of bacon stuffed into his back brace as he left the food service section of the institution. An inference of intent to steal the bacon was hardly unwarranted. See Superintendent, Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Walpole v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 454 (1985).
Finally, Taylor is correct that vested good conduct time credits may not be forfeited, but he misses the point. The credits that he was required to forfeit were credits yet to be vested.
In sum, the petition fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and it is DISMISSED.
It is SO ORDERED.