On August 28, 2001, an inmate at the Huttonsville Correctional Center filed a pro se petition for writs of mandamus in the Supreme Court of Appeals for West Virginia. The plaintiff alleged that he had been denied rehabilitative services during his incarceration and that he had been improperly placed on restrictive status. On September 19, 2001, the same inmate filed a pro se petition for habeas corpus in the same court, challenging the prison's procedures for restoring good time credit and the procedures for notifying prisoners of alleged disciplinary violations.

On October 11, 2002, the Supreme Court of Appeals for West Virginia (Judge Robin Davis) held that the warden lacked authority to prohibit inmates from applying for the restoration of good time credit until two years immediately preceding their discharge date, that the warden's practice was arbitrary and capricious and without a rational basis required by the due process clause, and that the inmates were entitled to notice of alleged disciplinary violations within a reasonable time and with such specificity as to permit the inmates to understand the nature of the charges. State ex rel. Williams v. Department of Military Affairs of Public Safety, 573 S.E.2d 1 (W.Va. 2002). We have no further information on the proceedings of this case.

Kristen Sagar - 04/22/2006


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