No. 04-99-00845-CV
Willie Frank MARSHALL, Appellant v. Pedro CORTEZ, et. al., Appellees From the 81st Judicial District Court, Karnes County, Texas Trial Court No. 99-04-00072-CVK Honorable Ron Carr, Judge PresidingOpinion by: Tom Rickhoff, Justice
Sitting: Tom Rickhoff, Justice
Catherine Stone, Justice
Karen Angelini, Justice
Delivered and Filed: September 13, 2000
AFFIRMED
This is an appeal from the trial court's order dismissing appellant's suit as frivolous. We hold that the district court properly dismissed appellant's claim that prison officials denied him the right to due process, and we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Factual and Procedural Background
Appellant, Willie Frank Marshall, sued Warden Timothy Keith, Correctional Officer Pedro Cortez, and Correctional Officer Ricardo A. Delavega. Appellant's allegations arise primarily from events surrounding a disciplinary hearing at which he was found guilty of violating Texas Department of Correctional Justice (TDCJ) disciplinary policies because he threatened to inflict harm on an officer. Specifically, appellant alleges that in retaliation for his complaints of abusive conduct by Officer Delavega, the defendant officers conspired to deprive him of his "good time credit" by falsely charging him with threatening an officer. Further, he alleges that the evidence presented at the subsequent disciplinary hearing was insufficient. He sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that these actions constituted a violation of his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. He sought monetary damages and restoration of his good time credit.
On May 14, 1999, appellees filed a motion to dismiss and notice of hearing pursuant to the provisions of section 14.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. On June 11, 1999, the court heard and granted appellees' motion to dismiss. Appellant filed his notice of appeal on August 2, 1999.
Discussion
A court has broad discretion to dismiss frivolous claims filed by inmates which have no arguable basis in law or fact. TEX. CIV. PRAC. REM. CODE § 14.003 (a)(2), 14.003(b)(2)(Vernon 2000); Lentworth v. Trahan, 926 S.W.2d 397, 398 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist. 1998, no pet.]. The trial court's decision to dismiss is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. McCollum v. Mt. Arafat Baptist Church, Inc., 980 S.W.2d 535, 536 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1998, no pet.). A trial court abuses its discretion if it acts arbitrarily, capriciously, and without reference to any guiding rules or principles. Brewer v. Collins, 857 S.W.2d 819, 822 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1993, no writ).
Under section 1983, the sole remedy for a prisoner seeking restoration of good-time credits is a writ of habeas corpus. Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 500 (1973). Appellant's claim for money damages and restoration of good time credit, necessarily implies the invalidity of the punishment imposed at the disciplinary hearing and is therefore not actionable under section 1983. Edwards v. Balisok, 520 U.S. 641, 648 (1997). Therefore, pursuant to Edwards, the trial court's dismissal of appellant's due process claim was proper.
Furthermore, appellant did not complain of any procedural error at the disciplinary hearing. Instead, he complains that the administrative decision was not supported by the evidence. The Fourteenth Amendment's due process guarantees do not go so far as to provide for an inmate's satisfaction with the results of a prison disciplinary hearing. Johnson v. Peterson, 799 S.W.2d 345, 347 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1990, no pet.).
We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Tom Rickhoff, Justice
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