18-C-1. Disciplinary and Administrative Segregation
Prison officials in New York may put a prisoner in a Segregated Housing/Holding Unit (SHU) 18 for a set period of time if they find that the prisoner broke a rule.19 Before the superintendent's hearing and during investigation, the prisoner may be placed in administrative segregation.20 Prison officials may also hold a prisoner in administrative segregation in a SHU if the prisoner threatens the safety or security of the prison. 21 Disciplinary segregation must be based on a finding-after a formal hearing-that the prisoner violated the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Standards of Prisoner Behaviors.22 However, administrative segregation is based on a determination after an informal hearing that a prisoner's presence in the general prison population threatens prison safety and security Disciplinary confinement takes place for a settime period. In contrast,administrative segregationis not considered punishment and cancontinue until the superintendent findsthatthe threat is over. 23 For more on the procedural requirements for disciplinary and administrative segregation in New York prisons, see Parts E and F of this Chapter.
Courts in NewYork State and the Second Circuit look atboth disciplinary and administrative detention proceedings under the Sandintest above. The court judges claimsfrom both kinds of segregation to decide if:
(1) There are procedures explicitly required of prison officials,and
(2) An"atypical and significant hardship" exists.24 This Section will first help you figure out ifthe procedures that put youin disciplinary or administrative detention met requirement (1).Then, it will look athow courts judgea prisoner's confinement in the SHU under requirement (2). This Section focuses specifically on the law forcourts in the Second Circuit (federal courts in New York, Vermont, and Connecticut). Analysis by courts in other jurisdictions may be different. Unfortunately, some courts outside of the Second Circuit have held that no liberty interests may arise fromadministrative detention.25 If you live outside the jurisdiction of the Second Circuit, you should look uphow courts in your jurisdiction interpretyour prison's rules and ifthey consider administrative detention a protected liberty interes.
(a) The State-Created Liberty Interest Requirement
Even if your segregation was "atypical and significant," courts will not finda due process violation ifyou cannotshow you had a constitutional or state-created liberty interest in avoiding the segregation. The Second Circuit and New York district courtshold that New York state regulations fordisciplinary confinement 26 and administrative segregation 27 giveprisoners a liberty interest that protects them from certain prison conditions and that the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution protects these rights. The Second Circuit finds that a prisoner only has a federal due process claim if, upon careful analysis, specific state statutes and regulations create protected liberty interests.Where these interests have been created, the prison must also regularly uphold these protected interests.28 It is important to remember that courts outside of New York State do not always find that statestatutes and regulations create a liberty interest that protects prisoners from disciplinary and administrative segregation
(b) The "Atypical and Significant Hardship" Requirement
In determining whether your confinement in the SHU involvesa protected liberty interest, a court will analyzedisciplinary segregation thesame way asadministrative segregation. The court looks atwhetherthe factsof your confinement in a segregated facility reachan "atypical and significant hardship ...in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life." 29 A court will look at the facts of your confinement in its analysis.30 There is no clear waytodecideifa given SHU confinement is an "atypical and significant hardship," but courts will look attwo main thingsin their analysis:
(1) the length of your confinementand
(2) the extent of your deprivation.31 The court will look atboth factors "since especially harsh conditions endured for a brief interval and somewhat harsh conditions endured for a prolonged interval[i.e. length]might both be atypical." 32
(i) Actual Length of Your Confinement
If you are filing a claim within the Second Circuit, the length of your confinement is the actual time that you weredetained in the SHU.This is the period for which a prison official may be responsible for violating your due process rights. Therefore, when you file your claim, you will state how longyou actually spent in detention and not how long you could have spent. 33 You should count the total number of days that you spent in the SHU before,during, and after the disciplinary or administrative hearing.34 If they move you from one SHU directly to another SHU in a different prison facility, count the total number of days that you were detained. Your transfer does not restart the duration of confinement forthe court.35
Courts have not strictly defined what makes an "atypical and significant"period of SHU confinement,but the Second Circuit has indicated general rules forsuch claims. The Second Circuit recently suggested that SHU confinement of approximately 305 days or more probably involvesa protected liberty interest.36 Periods of less than305 days but morethan 101 days may involvea protected liberty interest. 37 Whether it involvesa protected liberty interest heavily depends on the extent ofyourdeprivation.38 (This second factor is discussed more below.) Confinement for less than 101 days probably does not involveaSandinliberty interest unless you experiencedunusually severe conditions in the SHU. 39 Finally, confinement under typical SHU conditions for less than thirty days will probably not result ina successful due process claim.40
In addition to weighing the length of your confinement and the extent of your deprivation, courts also look athow oftenprisoners endure similarperiods of non-disciplinary SHU confinement to decideifa particular period of segregation is "atypical." In other words, courts may compare your period of confinement with "periods of comparable deprivation typically endured by other prisoners in the ordinary courseof prison administration" for non-disciplinary reasons. 41
(ii) Extent of the Deprivation Compared to "Ordinary Incidents of Prison Life
Courts will compare how muchhardship you suffered in disciplinary or administrative segregation to the "ordinary incidents of prison life."42The Second Circuit saysthat, under Sandin, a prisoner does not have a due process claim if other prisoners haveaboutthe same hardship...
