(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2004 1
Syllabus
NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is
being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued.
The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been
prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
WILKINSON, DIRECTOR, OHIO DEPARTMENT OF
REHABILITATION AND CORRECTION, ET AL. v.
AUSTIN ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
No. 04–495. Argued March 30, 2005—Decided June 13, 2005
“Supermax” prisons are maximum security facilities with highly re-
strictive conditions, designed to segregate the most dangerous pris-
oners from the general prison population. Their use has increased in
recent years, in part as a response to the rise in prison gangs and
prison violence. Ohio opened its only Supermax facility, the Ohio
State Penitentiary (OSP), after a riot in one of its maximum security
prisons. In the OSP almost every aspect of an inmate’s life is con-
trolled and monitored. Incarceration there is synonymous with ex-
treme isolation. Opportunities for visitation are rare and are always
conducted through glass walls. Inmates are deprived of almost any
environmental or sensory stimuli and of almost all human contact.
Placement at OSP is for an indefinite period, limited only by an in-
mate’s sentence. Inmates otherwise eligible for parole lose their eli-
gibility while incarcerated at OSP.
When OSP first became operational, no official policy governing
placement there was in effect, and the procedures used to assign in-
mates to the facility were inconsistent and undefined, resulting in
haphazard and erroneous placements. In an effort to establish guide-
lines for the selection and classification of OSP inmates, Ohio issued
its Policy 111–07. Relevant here are two versions of the policy: the
“Old Policy” and the “New Policy.” Because assignment problems
persisted after the Old Policy took effect, Ohio promulgated the New
Policy to provide more guidance regarding the factors to be consid-
ered in placement decisions and to afford inmates more procedural
protection against erroneous placement. Under the New Policy, a
prison official conducts a classification review either (1) upon entry
2 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Syllabus
into the prison system if the inmate was convicted of certain offenses,
e.g., organized crime, or (2) during the incarceration if the inmate en-
gages in specified conduct, e.g., leads a prison gang. The New Policy
also provides for a three-tier review process after a recommendation
that an inmate be placed in OSP. Among other things, the inmate
must receive notice of the factual basis leading to consideration for
OSP placement and a fair opportunity for rebuttal at a hearing, al-
though he may not call witnesses. In addition, the inmate is invited
to submit objections prior to the final level of review. Although a
subsequent reviewer may overturn an affirmative recommendation
for OSP placement at any level, the reverse is not true; if one re-
viewer declines to recommend OSP placement, the process termi-
nates. Ohio also provides for a placement review within 30 days of
an inmate’s initial assignment to OSP, and annual review thereafter.
A class of current and former OSP inmates filed this suit for equi-
table relief under 42 U. S. C. §1983, alleging, inter alia, that the Old
Policy, which was then in effect, violated the Fourteenth Amend-
ment’s Due Process Clause. On the eve of trial, Ohio promulgated its
New Policy and represented that it contained the procedures to be
followed in the future. After extensive evidence was presented, the
District Court made findings and conclusions and issued a detailed
remedial order. First, relying on Sandin v. Conner, 515 U. S. 472, the
court found that inmates have a liberty interest in avoiding assignment
to OSP. Second, it found Ohio had denied the inmates due process by
failing to afford many of them notice and an adequate opportunity to be
heard before transfer; failing to give them sufficient notice of the
grounds for their retention at OSP; and failing to give them sufficient
opportunity to understand the reasoning and evidence used to retain
them at OSP. Third, it held that, although the New Policy provided
more procedural safeguards than the Old Policy, it was nonetheless in-
adequate to meet procedural due process requirements. The court
therefore ordered modifications to the New Policy, including substan-
tive modifications narrowing the grounds that Ohio could consider in
recommending assignment to OSP, and various specific procedural
modifications. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s conclu-
sion that the inmates had a liberty interest in avoiding OSP place-
ment and upheld the lower court’s procedural modifications in their
entirety, but set aside the far-reaching substantive modifications on
the ground they exceeded the District Court’s authority.
Held: The procedures by which Ohio’s New Policy classifies prisoners
for placement at its Supermax facility provide prisoners with suffi-
cient protection to comply with the Due Process Clause. Pp. 9–19.
(a) Inmates have a constitutionally protected liberty interest in
avoiding assignment at OSP. Such an interest may arise from state
Cite as: 545 U. S. ____ (2005) 3
Syllabus
policies or regulations, subject to the important limitations set forth in
Sandin, which requires a determination whether OSP assignment
“imposes atypical and significant hardship on the inmate in relation
to the ordinary incidents of prison life.” 515 U. S., at 483. The Court
is satisfied that assignment to OSP imposes such a hardship com-
pared to any plausible baseline from which to measure the Ohio
prison system. For an inmate placed in OSP, almost all human con-
tact is prohibited, even to the point that conversation is not permitted
from cell to cell; his cell’s light may be dimmed, but is on for 24 hours;
and he may exercise only one hour per day in a small indoor room.
Save perhaps for the especially severe limitations on all human con-
tact, these conditions likely would apply to most solitary confinement
facilities, but here there are two added components. First is the du-
ration. Unlike the 30-day placement in segregated confinement at is-
sue in Sandin, placement at OSP is indefinite and, after an initial 30-
day review, is reviewed just annually. Second is that placement dis-
qualifies an otherwise eligible inmate for parole consideration.
Taken together these conditions impose an atypical and significant
hardship within the correctional context. Pp. 9–13.
(b) The New Policy’s procedures are sufficient to satisfy due proc-
ess. Evaluating the sufficiency of particular prison procedures re-
quires consideration of three distinct factors: (1) the private interest
that will be affected by the official action; (2) the risk of an erroneous
deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and the
probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safe-
guards; and (3) the government’s interest, including the function in-
volved and the fiscal and administrative burdens that additional or
substitute procedural requirement would entail. Mathews v. El-
dridge, 424 U. S. 319, 335. Applying those factors demonstrates that
Ohio’s New Policy provides a sufficient level of process. First, the
inmate’s interest in avoiding erroneous placement at OSP, while
more than minimal, must nonetheless be evaluated within the con-
text of the prison system and its attendant curtailment of liberties.
The liberty of prisoners in lawful confinement is curtailed by defini-
tion, so their procedural protections are more limited than in cases
where the right at stake is the right to be free from all confinement.
Second, the risk of an erroneous placement is minimized by the New
Policy’s requirements. Ohio provides multiple levels of review for any
decision recommending OSP placement, with power to overturn the
recommendation at each level. In addition, Ohio reduces the risk of
erroneous placement by providing for a placement review within 30
days of an inmate’s initial assignment to OSP. Notice of the factual
basis for a decision and a fair opportunity for rebuttal are among the
most important procedural mechanisms for purposes of avoiding er-
4 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Syllabus
roneous deprivations. See, e.g., Greenholtz v. Inmates of Neb. Penal
and Correctional Complex, 442 U. S. 1, 15. Third, in the context of
prison management and the specific circumstances of this case,
Ohio’s interest is a dominant consideration. Ohio’s first obligation
must be to ensure the safety of guards and prison personnel, the pub-
lic, and the prisoners themselves. See Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U. S.
460, 473. Prison security, imperiled by the brutal reality of prison
gangs, provides the backdrop of the State’s interest. Another compo-
nent of Ohio’s interest is the problem of scarce resources. The high
cost of maintaining an inmate at OSP would make it difficult to fund
more effective education and vocational assistance programs to im-
prove prisoners’ lives. Courts must give substantial deference to
prison management decisions before mandating additional expendi-
tures for elaborate procedural safeguards when correctional officials
conclude that a prisoner has engaged in disruptive behavior. Were
Ohio required to provide other attributes of an adversary hearing be-
fore ordering transfer to OSP, both the State’s immediate objective of
controlling the prisoner and its greater objective of controlling the
prison could be defeated. Where, as here, the inquiry draws more on
the experience of prison administrators, and where the State’s inter-
est implicates the safety of other inmates and prison personnel, the
informal, nonadversary procedures set forth in Greenholtz and Hewitt
provide the appropriate model. If an inmate were to demonstrate
that the New Policy did not in practice operate in the fashion de-
scribed, any cognizable injury could be the subject of an appropriate
future challenge. In light of the foregoing, the procedural modifica-
tions ordered by the District Court and affirmed by the Sixth Circuit
were in error. Pp. 13–19.
372 F. 3d 346, affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
Cite as: 545 U. S. ____ (2005) 1
Opinion of the Court
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
_________________
No. 04–495
_________________
REGINALD A. WILKINSON, DIRECTOR, OHIO
DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION AND
CORRECTION, ET AL., PETITIONERS v.
CHARLES E. AUSTIN ET AL.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
[June 13, 2005]
JUSTICE KENNEDY delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case involves the process by which Ohio classifies
prisoners for placement at its highest security prison,
known as a “Supermax” facility. Supermax facilities are
maximum-security prisons with highly restrictive condi-
tions, designed to segregate the most dangerous prisoners
from the general prison population. We must consider
what process the Fourteenth Amendment to the United
States Constitution requires Ohio to afford to inmates
before assigning them to Supermax. We hold that the
procedures Ohio has adopted provide sufficient procedural
protection to comply with due process requirements.
I
The use of Supermax prisons has increased over the last
20 years, in part as a response to the rise in prison gangs
and prison violence. See generally U. S. Dept. of Justice,
National Institute of Corrections, C. Riveland, Supermax
Prisons: Overview and General Considerations 1 (1999),
http://www.nicic.org/pubs/1999/014937.pdf (as visited June
2 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Opinion of the Court
9, 2005, and available in Clerk of Court’s case file).
About 30 States now operate Supermax prisons, in addi-
tion to the two operated by the Federal Government. See
Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 2. In 1998, Ohio
opened its only Supermax facility, the Ohio State Peniten-
tiary (OSP), after a riot in one of its maximum-security
prisons. OSP has the capacity to house up to 504 inmates
in single-inmate cells and is designed to “ ‘separate the
most predatory and dangerous prisoners from the rest of
the . . . general [prison] population.’ ” See 189 F. Supp. 2d
719, 723 (ND Ohio 2002) (Austin I) (quoting deposition of
R. Wilkinson, pp. 24–25).
Conditions at OSP are more restrictive than any other
form of incarceration in Ohio, including conditions on its
death row or in its administrative control units. The
latter are themselves a highly restrictive form of solitary
confinement. See Austin I, supra, 724–725, and n. 5 (cit-
ing Ohio Admin. Code §5120–9–13 (2001) (rescinded
2004)). In the OSP almost every aspect of an inmate’s life
is controlled and monitored. Inmates must remain in
their cells, which measure 7 by 14 feet, for 23 hours per
day. A light remains on in the cell at all times, though it
is sometimes dimmed, and an inmate who attempts to
shield the light to sleep is subject to further discipline.
During the one hour per day that an inmate may leave his
cell, access is limited to one of two indoor recreation cells.
Incarceration at OSP is synonymous with extreme
isolation. In contrast to any other Ohio prison, including
any segregation unit, OSP cells have solid metal doors
with metal strips along their sides and bottoms which
prevent conversation or communication with other in-
mates. All meals are taken alone in the inmate’s cell
instead of in a common eating area. Opportunities for
visitation are rare and in all events are conducted through
glass walls. It is fair to say OSP inmates are deprived of
almost any environmental or sensory stimuli and of al-
Cite as: 545 U. S. ____ (2005) 3
Opinion of the Court
most all human contact.
Aside from the severity of the conditions, placement at
OSP is for an indefinite period of time, limited only by an
inmate’s sentence. For an inmate serving a life sentence,
there is no indication how long he may be incarcerated at
OSP once assigned there. Austin I, supra, at 740. In-
mates otherwise eligible for parole lose their eligibility
while incarcerated at OSP. 189 F. Supp. 2d, at 728.
Placement at OSP is determined in the following man-
ner: Upon entering the prison system, all Ohio inmates
are assigned a numerical security classification from level
1 through level 5, with 1 the lowest security risk and 5 the
highest. See Brief for Petitioners 7. The initial security
classification is based on numerous factors (e.g., the na-
ture of the underlying offense, criminal history, or gang
affiliation) but is subject to modification at any time dur-
ing the inmate’s prison term if, for instance, he engages in
misconduct or is deemed a security risk. Ibid. Level 5
inmates are placed in OSP, and levels 1 through 4 inmates
are placed at lower security facilities throughout the
State. Ibid.
Ohio concedes that when OSP first became operational,
the procedures used to assign inmates to the facility were
inconsistent and undefined. For a time, no official policy
governing placement was in effect. See Austin I, supra, at
726–727. Haphazard placements were not uncommon,
and some individuals who did not pose high-security risks
were designated, nonetheless, for OSP. In an effort to
establish guidelines for the selection and classification of
inmates suitable for OSP, Ohio issued Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction Policy 111–07 (Aug. 31,
1998). This policy has been revised at various points but
relevant here are two versions: the “Old Policy” and the
“New Policy. ” The Old Policy took effect on January 28,
1999, but problems with assignment appear to have per-
sisted even under this written set of standards. 189
4 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Opinion of the Court
F. Supp. 2d, at 728–736. After forming a committee to
study the matter and retaining a national expert in prison
security, Ohio promulgated the New Policy in early 2002.
The New Policy provided more guidance regarding the
factors to be considered in placement decisions and af-
forded inmates more procedural protection against errone-
ous placement at OSP.
Although the record is not altogether clear regarding the
precise manner in which the New Policy operates, we
construe it based on the policy’s text, the accompanying
forms, and the parties’ representations at oral argument
and in their briefs. The New Policy appears to operate as
follows: A classification review for OSP placement can
occur either (1) upon entry into the prison system if the
inmate was convicted of certain offenses, e.g., organized
crime, or (2) during the term of incarceration if an inmate
engages in specified conduct, e.g., leads a prison gang.
App. 42–43. The review process begins when a prison
official prepares a “Security Designation Long Form”
(Long Form). Id., at 20. This three-page form details
matters such as the inmate’s recent violence, escape at-
tempts, gang affiliation, underlying offense, and other
pertinent details. Id., at 20, 38–45.
A three-member Classification Committee (Committee)
convenes to review the proposed classification and to hold
a hearing. At least 48 hours before the hearing, the in-
mate is provided with written notice summarizing the
conduct or offense triggering the review. Id., at 22, 58. At
the time of notice, the inmate also has access to the Long
Form, which details why the review was initiated. See Tr.
of Oral Arg. 13–17. The inmate may attend the hearing,
may “offer any pertinent information, explanation and/or
objections to [OSP] placement,” and may submit a written
statement. App. 22. He may not call witnesses.
If the Committee does not recommend OSP placement,
the process terminates. Id., at 62, 65. See also Brief for
Cite as: 545 U. S. ____ (2005) 5
Opinion of the Court
Petitioners 9. If the Committee does recommend OSP
placement, it documents the decision on a “Classification
Committee Report” (CCR), setting forth “the nature of the
threat the inmate presents and the committee’s reasons
for the recommendation,” App. 64, as well as a summary of
any information presented at the hearing. Id., at 59–65.
The Committee sends the completed CCR to the warden of
the prison where the inmate is housed or, in the case of an
inmate just entering the prison system, to another desig-
nated official. Id., at 23.
If, after reviewing the CCR, the warden (or the desig-
nated official) disagrees and concludes that OSP is inap-
propriate, the process terminates and the inmate is not
placed in OSP. If the warden agrees, he indicates his
approval on the CCR, provides his reasons, and forwards
the annotated CCR to the Bureau of Classification (Bu-
reau) for a final decision. Id., at 64. (The Bureau is a
body of Ohio prison officials vested with final decisionmak-
ing authority over all Ohio inmate assignments.) The
annotated CCR is served upon the inmate, notifying him
of the Classification Committee’s and warden’s recom-
mendations and reasons. Id., at 65. The inmate has 15
days to file any objections with the Bureau of Classifica-
tion. Ibid.
After the 15-day period, the Bureau of Classification
reviews the CCR and makes a final determination. If it
concludes OSP placement is inappropriate, the process
terminates. If the Bureau approves the warden’s recom-
mendation, the inmate is transferred to OSP. The Bu-
reau’s chief notes the reasons for the decision on the CCR,
and the CCR is again provided to the inmate. Ibid.
Inmates assigned to OSP receive another review within
30 days of their arrival. That review is conducted by a
designated OSP staff member, who examines the inmate’s
file. Id., at 25. If the OSP staff member deems the inmate
inappropriately placed, he prepares a written recommen-
6 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Opinion of the Court
dation to the OSP warden that the inmate be transferred
to a lower security institution. Brief for Petitioners 9;
App. 25. If the OSP warden concurs, he forwards that
transfer recommendation to the Bureau of Classification
for appropriate action. If the inmate is deemed properly
placed, he remains in OSP and his placement is reviewed
on at least an annual basis according to the initial three-
tier classification review process outlined above. Brief for
Petitioners 9–10.
II
This action began when a class of current and former
OSP inmates brought suit under Rev. Stat. §1979, 42
U. S. C. §1983, in the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Ohio against various Ohio prison
officials. We refer to the class of plaintiff inmates, respon-
dents here, collectively as “the inmates.” We refer to the
prison officials, petitioners here, as “Ohio.”
The inmates’ complaint alleged that Ohio’s Old Policy,
which was in effect at the time the suit was brought,
violated due process. In addition the inmates brought a
claim that certain conditions at OSP violated the Eighth
Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments, but
that claim was settled in the District Court. The extent to
which the settlement resolved the practices that were the
subject of the inmates’ Eighth Amendment claim is un-
clear but, in any event, that issue is not before us. The
inmates’ suit sought declaratory and injunctive relief. On
the eve of trial Ohio promulgated its New Policy and
represented that it contained the procedures to be followed
in the future. The District Court and Court of Appeals
evaluated the adequacy of the New Policy, and it therefore
forms the basis for our determination here.
After an 8-day trial with extensive evidence, including
testimony from expert witnesses, the District Court made
findings and conclusions and issued a detailed remedial
Cite as: 545 U. S. ____ (2005) 7
Opinion of the Court
order. First, relying on this Court’s decision in Sandin v.
Conner, 515 U. S. 472 (1995), the District Court found that
the inmates have a liberty interest in avoiding assignment
to OSP. Austin I, 189 F. Supp. 2d, at 738–740. Second, the
District Court found Ohio had denied the inmates due
process by failing to afford a large number of them notice
and an adequate opportunity to be heard before transfer;
failing to give inmates sufficient notice of the grounds serv-
ing as the basis for their retention at OSP; and failing to
give the inmates sufficient opportunity to understand the
reasoning and evidence used to retain them at OSP. Id., at
749. Third, the District Court held that, although Ohio’s
New Policy provided more procedural safeguards than its
Old Policy, it was nonetheless inadequate to meet proce-
dural due process requirements. Id., at 736, 750–754. In a
separate order it directed extensive modifications to that
policy. 204 F. Supp. 2d 1024 (ND Ohio 2002) (Austin II).
The modifications the District Court ordered to Ohio’s
New Policy included both substantive and procedural
reforms. The former narrowed the grounds that Ohio
could consider in recommending assignment to OSP. For
instance, possession of drugs in small amounts, according
to the District Court, could not serve as the basis for an
OSP assignment. Id., at 1028. The following are some of
the procedural modifications the District Court ordered:
(1) Finding that the notice provisions of Ohio’s New
Policy were inadequate, the District Court ordered Ohio to
provide the inmates with an exhaustive list of grounds
believed to justify placement at OSP and a summary of all
evidence upon which the Classification Committee would
rely. Matters not so identified, the District Court ordered,
could not be considered by the Committee. Id., at 1026.
(2) The District Court supplemented the inmate’s op-
portunity to appear before the Committee and to make an
oral or written statement by ordering Ohio to allow in-
mates to present documentary evidence and call witnesses
8 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Opinion of the Court
before the Committee, provided that doing so would not be
unduly hazardous or burdensome. The District Court
further ordered that Ohio must attempt to secure the
participation of any witness housed within the prison
system. Id., at 1026–1027.
(3) Finding the New Policy’s provision of a brief state-
ment of reasons for a recommendation of OSP placement
inadequate, the District Court ordered the Classification
Committee to summarize all evidence supporting its rec-
ommendation. Id., at 1027. Likewise, the District Court
ordered the Bureau of Classification to prepare a “detailed
and specific” statement “set[ting] out all grounds” justify-
ing OSP placement including “facts relied upon and rea-
soning used.” Id., at 1027. The statement shall “not use
conclusory,” “vague,” or “boilerplate language,” and must
be delivered to the inmate within five days. Id., at 1027–
1028.
(4) The District Court supplemented the New Policy’s
30-day and annual review processes, ordering Ohio to
notify the inmate twice per year both in writing and orally
of his progress toward a security level reduction. Specifi-
cally, that notice must “advise the inmate what specific
conduct is necessary for that prisoner to be reduced from
Level 5 and the amount of time it will take before [Ohio]
reduces the inmate’s security level classification.” Ibid.
Ohio appealed. First, it maintained that the inmates
lacked a constitutionally protected liberty interest in
avoiding placement at OSP. Second, it argued that, even
assuming a liberty interest, its New Policy provides consti-
tutionally adequate procedures and thus the District
Court’s modifications were unnecessary. The Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s
conclusion that the inmates had a liberty interest in avoid-
ing placement at OSP. 372 F. 3d 346, 356 (2004). The
Court of Appeals also affirmed the District Court’s proce-
dural modifications in their entirety. Id., at 359–360.
Cite as: 545 U. S. ____ (2005) 9
Opinion of the Court
Finally, it set aside the District Court’s far-reaching sub-
stantive modifications, concluding they exceeded the scope
of the District Court’s authority. This last aspect of the
Court of Appeals’ ruling is not the subject of review in this
Court.
We granted certiorari to consider what process an in-
mate must be afforded under the Due Process Clause
when he is considered for placement at OSP. 543 U. S. ___
(2004). For reasons discussed below, we conclude that the
inmates have a protected liberty interest in avoiding
assignment at OSP. We further hold that the procedures
set forth in the New Policy are sufficient to satisfy the
Constitution’s requirements; it follows, then, that the
procedural modifications ordered by the District Court and
affirmed by the Court of Appeals were in error.
III
Withdrawing from the position taken in the Court of
Appeals, Ohio in its briefs to this Court conceded that the
inmates have a liberty interest in avoiding assignment at
OSP. See Pet. for Cert. i; Brief for Petitioners i. The
United States, supporting Ohio as amicus curiae, dis-
agrees with Ohio’s concession and argues that the inmates
have no liberty interest in avoiding assignment to a prison
facility with more restrictive conditions of confinement.
See Brief for United States 10. At oral argument Ohio
initially adhered to its earlier concession, see Tr. of Oral
Arg. 5, but when pressed, the State backtracked. See id.,
at 6–7. We need reach the question of what process is due
only if the inmates establish a constitutionally protected
liberty interest, so it is appropriate to address this thresh-
old question at the outset.
The Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause
protects persons against deprivations of life, liberty, or
property; and those who seek to invoke its procedural
protection must establish that one of these interests is at
10 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Opinion of the Court
stake. A liberty interest may arise from the Constitution
itself, by reason of guarantees implicit in the word “lib-
erty,” see, e.g., Vitek v. Jones, 445 U. S. 480, 493–494 (1980)
(liberty interest in avoiding involuntary psychiatric treat-
ment and transfer to mental institution), or it may arise
from an expectation or interest created by state laws or
policies, see, e.g., Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U. S. 539, 556–
558 (1974) (liberty interest in avoiding withdrawal of state-
created system of good-time credits).
We have held that the Constitution itself does not give
rise to a liberty interest in avoiding transfer to more ad-
verse conditions of confinement. Meachum v. Fano, 427
U. S. 215, 225 (1976) (no liberty interest arising from Due
Process Clause itself in transfer from low- to maximum-
security prison because “[c]onfinement in any of the State’s
institutions is within the normal limits or range of custody
which the conviction has authorized the State to impose”).
We have also held, however, that a liberty interest in avoid-
ing particular conditions of confinement may arise from
state policies or regulations, subject to the important limi-
tations set forth in Sandin v. Conner, 515 U. S. 472 (1995).
Sandin involved prisoners’ claims to procedural due
process protection before placement in segregated con-
finement for 30 days, imposed as discipline for disruptive
behavior. Sandin observed that some of our earlier cases,
Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U. S. 460 (1983), in particular, had
employed a methodology for identifying state-created
liberty interests that emphasized “the language of a par-
ticular [prison] regulation” instead of “the nature of the
deprivation.” Sandin, 515 U. S., at 481. In Sandin, we
criticized this methodology as creating a disincentive for
States to promulgate procedures for prison management,
and as involving the federal courts in the day-to-day man-
agement of prisons. Id., at 482–483. For these reasons,
we abrogated the methodology of parsing the language of
particular regulations.
Cite as: 545 U. S. ____ (2005) 11
Opinion of the Court
“[T]he search for a negative implication from manda-
tory language in prisoner regulations has strayed
from the real concerns undergirding the liberty pro-
tected by the Due Process Clause. The time has come
to return to the due process principles we believe were
correctly established in and applied in Wolff and
Meachum. Following Wolff, we recognize that States
may under certain circumstances create liberty inter-
ests which are protected by the Due Process Clause.
But these interests will generally be limited to free-
dom from restraint which, while not exceeding the
sentence in such an unexpected manner as to give rise
to protection by the Due Process Clause of its own
force, nonetheless imposes atypical and significant
hardship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary in-
cidents of prison life.” Id., at 483–484 (citations and
footnote omitted).
After Sandin, it is clear that the touchstone of the inquiry
into the existence of a protected, state-created liberty
interest in avoiding restrictive conditions of confinement is
not the language of regulations regarding those conditions
but the nature of those conditions themselves “in relation
to the ordinary incidents of prison life.” Id., at 484.
Applying this refined inquiry, Sandin found no liberty
interest protecting against a 30-day assignment to segre-
gated confinement because it did not “present a dramatic
departure from the basic conditions of [the inmate’s] sen-
tence.” Id., at 485. We noted, for example, that inmates
in the general population experienced “significant
amounts of ‘lockdown time’ ” and that the degree of con-
finement in disciplinary segregation was not excessive.
Id., at 486. We did not find, moreover, the short duration
of segregation to work a major disruption in the inmate’s
environment. Ibid.
The Sandin standard requires us to determine if as-
12 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Opinion of the Court
signment to OSP “imposes atypical and significant hard-
ship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary incidents of
prison life.” Id., at 484. In Sandin’s wake the Courts of
Appeals have not reached consistent conclusions for iden-
tifying the baseline from which to measure what is atypi-
cal and significant in any particular prison system. Com-
pare e.g., Beverati v. Smith, 120 F. 3d 500, 504 (CA4
1997), and Keenan v. Hall, 83 F. 3d 1083, 1089 (CA9
1996), with Hatch v. District of Columbia, 184 F. 3d 846,
847 (CADC 1999). See also Wagner v. Hanks, 128 F. 3d
1173, 1177 (CA7 1997). This divergence indicates the
difficulty of locating the appropriate baseline, an issue
that was not explored at length in the briefs. We need not
resolve the issue here, however, for we are satisfied that
assignment to OSP imposes an atypical and significant
hardship under any plausible baseline.
For an inmate placed in OSP, almost all human contact
is prohibited, even to the point that conversation is not
permitted from cell to cell; the light, though it may be
dimmed, is on for 24 hours; exercise is for 1 hour per day,
but only in a small indoor room. Save perhaps for the
especially severe limitations on all human contact, these
conditions likely would apply to most solitary confinement
facilities, but here there are two added components. First
is the duration. Unlike the 30-day placement in Sandin,
placement at OSP is indefinite and, after an initial 30-day
review, is reviewed just annually. Second is that place-
ment disqualifies an otherwise eligible inmate for parole
consideration. Austin I, 189 F. Supp. 2d, at 728. While
any of these conditions standing alone might not be suffi-
cient to create a liberty interest, taken together they
impose an atypical and significant hardship within the
correctional context. It follows that respondents have a
liberty interest in avoiding assignment to OSP. Sandin,
supra, at 483.
OSP’s harsh conditions may well be necessary and
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Opinion of the Court
appropriate in light of the danger that high-risk inmates
pose both to prison officials and to other prisoners. See
infra, at 15–16. That necessity, however, does not dimin-
ish our conclusion that the conditions give rise to a liberty
interest in their avoidance.
IV
A liberty interest having been established, we turn to
the question of what process is due an inmate whom Ohio
seeks to place in OSP. Because the requirements of due
process are “flexible and cal[l] for such procedural protec-
tions as the particular situation demands,” Morrissey v.
Brewer, 408 U. S. 471, 481 (1972), we generally have de-
clined to establish rigid rules and instead have embraced a
framework to evaluate the sufficiency of particular proce-
dures. The framework, established in Mathews v. Eldridge,
424 U. S. 319 (1976), requires consideration of three distinct
factors:
“First, the private interest that will be affected by the
official action; second, the risk of an erroneous depri-
vation of such interest through the procedures used,
and the probable value, if any, of additional or substi-
tute procedural safeguards; and finally, the Govern-
ment’s interest, including the function involved and
the fiscal and administrative burdens that the addi-
tional or substitute procedural requirement would en-
tail.” Id., at 335.
The Court of Appeals upheld the District Court’s proce-
dural modifications under the assumption that Sandin
altered the first Mathews factor. It reasoned that, “[i]n
this first factor, Sandin affects the due process balance:
because only those conditions that constitute ‘atypical and
significant hardships’ give rise to liberty interests, those
interests will necessarily be of a weight requiring greater
due process protection.” 372 F. 3d, at 358–359. This
14 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Opinion of the Court
proposition does not follow from Sandin. Sandin con-
cerned only whether a state-created liberty interest ex-
isted so as to trigger Mathews balancing at all. Having
found no liberty interest to be at stake, Sandin had no
occasion to consider whether the private interest was
weighty vis-à-vis the remaining Mathews factors.
Applying the three factors set forth in Mathews, we find
Ohio’s New Policy provides a sufficient level of process.
We first consider the significance of the inmate’s interest
in avoiding erroneous placement at OSP. Prisoners held
in lawful confinement have their liberty curtailed by
definition, so the procedural protections to which they are
entitled are more limited than in cases where the right at
stake is the right to be free from confinement at all. See,
e.g., Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U. S. 103 (1975); Wolff, 418
U. S. 539. The private interest at stake here, while more
than minimal, must be evaluated, nonetheless, within the
context of the prison system and its attendant curtailment
of liberties.
The second factor addresses the risk of an erroneous
placement under the procedures in place, and the probable
value, if any, of additional or alternative procedural safe-
guards. The New Policy provides that an inmate must
receive notice of the factual basis leading to consideration
for OSP placement and a fair opportunity for rebuttal.
Our procedural due process cases have consistently ob-
served that these are among the most important proce-
dural mechanisms for purposes of avoiding erroneous
deprivations. See Greenholtz v. Inmates of Neb. Penal and
Correctional Complex, 442 U. S. 1, 15 (1979); Cleveland Bd.
of Ed. v. Loudermill, 470 U. S. 532, 543 (1985); Fuentes v.
Shevin, 407 U. S. 67, 80 (1972) (“For more than a century
the central meaning of procedural due process has been
clear: ‘Parties whose rights are to be affected are entitled
to be heard; and in order that they may enjoy that right
they must first be notified’ ” (quoting Baldwin v. Hale, 1
Cite as: 545 U. S. ____ (2005) 15
Opinion of the Court
Wall. 223, 233 (1864))). Requiring officials to provide a
brief summary of the factual basis for the classification
review and allowing the inmate a rebuttal opportunity
safeguards against the inmate’s being mistaken for an-
other or singled out for insufficient reason. In addition to
having the opportunity to be heard at the Classification
Committee stage, Ohio also invites the inmate to submit
objections prior to the final level of review. This second
opportunity further reduces the possibility of an erroneous
deprivation.
Although a subsequent reviewer may overturn an af-
firmative recommendation for OSP placement, the reverse
is not true; if one reviewer declines to recommend OSP
placement, the process terminates. This avoids one of
problems apparently present under the Old Policy, where,
even if two levels of reviewers recommended against
placement, a later reviewer could overturn their recom-
mendation without explanation.
If the recommendation is OSP placement, Ohio requires
that the decisionmaker provide a short statement of rea-
sons. This requirement guards against arbitrary deci-
sionmaking while also providing the inmate a basis for
objection before the next decisionmaker or in a subsequent
classification review. The statement also serves as a guide
for future behavior. See Greenholtz, supra, at 16.
As we have noted, Ohio provides multiple levels of
review for any decision recommending OSP placement,
with power to overturn the recommendation at each level.
In addition to these safeguards, Ohio further reduces the
risk of erroneous placement by providing for a placement
review within 30 days of an inmate’s initial assignment to
OSP.
The third Mathews factor addresses the State’s interest.
In the context of prison management, and in the specific
circumstances of this case, this interest is a dominant
consideration. Ohio has responsibility for imprisoning
16 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Opinion of the Court
nearly 44,000 inmates. Austin I, 189 F. Supp. 2d, at 727.
The State’s first obligation must be to ensure the safety of
guards and prison personnel, the public, and the prisoners
themselves. See Hewitt, 459 U. S., at 473.
Prison security, imperiled by the brutal reality of prison
gangs, provides the backdrop of the State’s interest. Clan-
destine, organized, fueled by race-based hostility, and
committed to fear and violence as a means of disciplining
their own members and their rivals, gangs seek nothing
less than to control prison life and to extend their power
outside prison walls. See Brief for State of California
et al. as Amici Curiae 6. Murder of an inmate, a guard, or
one of their family members on the outside is a common
form of gang discipline and control, as well as a condition
for membership in some gangs. See, e.g., United States v.
Santiago, 46 F. 3d 885, 888 (CA9 1995); United States v.
Silverstein, 732 F. 2d 1338, 1341 (CA7 1984). Testifying
against, or otherwise informing on, gang activities can
invite one’s own death sentence. It is worth noting in this
regard that for prison gang members serving life sen-
tences, some without the possibility of parole, the deter-
rent effects of ordinary criminal punishment may be sub-
stantially diminished. See id., at 1343 (“[T]o many
inmates of Marion’s Control Unit [a federal Supermax
facility,] the price of murder must not be high and to some
it must be close to zero”).
The problem of scarce resources is another component of
the State’s interest. The cost of keeping a single prisoner
in one of Ohio’s ordinary maximum-security prisons is
$34,167 per year, and the cost to maintain each inmate at
OSP is $49,007 per year. See Austin I, supra, at 734, n. 17.
We can assume that Ohio, or any other penal system, faced
with costs like these will find it difficult to fund more effec-
tive education and vocational assistance programs to im-
prove the lives of the prisoners. It follows that courts must
give substantial deference to prison management decisions
Cite as: 545 U. S. ____ (2005) 17
Opinion of the Court
before mandating additional expenditures for elaborate
procedural safeguards when correctional officials conclude
that a prisoner has engaged in disruptive behavior.
The State’s interest must be understood against this
background. Were Ohio to allow an inmate to call wit-
nesses or provide other attributes of an adversary hearing
before ordering transfer to OSP, both the State’s immedi-
ate objective of controlling the prisoner and its greater
objective of controlling the prison could be defeated. This
problem, moreover, is not alleviated by providing an ex-
emption for witnesses who pose a hazard, for nothing in
the record indicates simple mechanisms exist to determine
when witnesses may be called without fear of reprisal.
The danger to witnesses, and the difficulty in obtaining
their cooperation, make the probable value of an adver-
sary-type hearing doubtful in comparison to its obvious
costs.
A balance of the Mathews factors yields the conclusion
that Ohio’s New Policy is adequate to safeguard an in-
mate’s liberty interest in not being assigned to OSP. Ohio
is not, for example, attempting to remove an inmate from
free society for a specific parole violation, see, e.g., Morris-
sey, 408 U. S., at 481, or to revoke good time credits for
specific, serious misbehavior, see, e.g., Wolff, 418 U. S., at
539, where more formal, adversary-type procedures might
be useful. Where the inquiry draws more on the experi-
ence of prison administrators, and where the State’s inter-
est implicates the safety of other inmates and prison
personnel, the informal, nonadversary procedures set forth
in Greenholtz v. Inmates of Neb. Penal and Correctional
Complex, 442 U. S. 1 (1979), and Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U. S.
460 (1983), provide the appropriate model. Greenholtz,
supra, at 16 (level of process due for inmates being consid-
ered for release on parole includes opportunity to be heard
and notice of any adverse decision); Hewitt, supra, at 473–
476 (level of process due for inmates being considered for
18 WILKINSON v. AUSTIN
Opinion of the Court
transfer to administrative segregation includes some notice
of charges and an opportunity to be heard). Although
Sandin abrogated Greenholtz’s and Hewitt’s methodology
for establishing the liberty interest, these cases remain
instructive for their discussion of the appropriate level of
procedural safeguards. Ohio’s New Policy provides infor-
mal, nonadversary procedures comparable to those we
upheld in Greenholtz and Hewitt, and no further proce-
dural modifications are necessary in order to satisfy due
process under the Mathews test. Neither the District
Court nor the Court of Appeals should have ordered the
New Policy altered.
The effect of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995
(PLRA), in particular 18 U. S. C. §3626(a)(1)(A), in this
case has not been discussed at any length in the briefs. In
view of our disposition it is unnecessary to address its
application here.
Prolonged confinement in Supermax may be the State’s
only option for the control of some inmates, and claims
alleging violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition
of cruel and unusual punishments were resolved, or with-
drawn, by settlement in an early phase of this case. Here,
any claim of excessive punishment in individual circum-
stances is not before us.
The complaint challenged OSP assignments under the
Old Policy, and the unwritten policies that preceded it,
and alleged injuries resulting from those systems. Ohio
conceded that assignments made under the Old Policy
were, to say the least, imprecise. The District Court found
constitutional violations had arisen under those earlier
versions, and held that the New Policy would produce
many of the same constitutional problems. Austin I,
supra, at 749–754. We now hold that the New Policy as
described in this opinion strikes a constitutionally permis-
sible balance between the factors of the Mathews frame-
work. If an inmate were to demonstrate that the New
Cite as: 545 U. S. ____ (2005) 19
Opinion of the Court
Policy did not in practice operate in this fashion, resulting
in a cognizable injury, that could be the subject of an
appropriate future challenge. On remand, the Court of
Appeals, or the District Court, may consider in the first
instance what, if any, prospective relief is still a necessary
and appropriate remedy for due process violations under
Ohio’s previous policies. Any such relief must, of course,
satisfy the conditions set forth in 18 U. S. C.
§3626(a)(1)(A).
* * *
The Court of Appeals was correct to find the inmates
possess a liberty interest in avoiding assignment at OSP.
The Court of Appeals was incorrect, however, to sustain
the procedural modifications ordered by the District Court.
The portion of the Court of Appeals’ opinion reversing the
District Court’s substantive modifications was not the
subject of review upon certiorari and is unaltered by our
decision.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed in part
and reversed in part, and the case is remanded for further
proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.