[Editor's note: footnotes (if any) trail the opinion]
[1] SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
[2] HAINES
v.
[3] KERNER ET AL.
[4] No. 70-5025
BLUE BOOK CITATION FORM: 1972.SCT.7 (http://www.versuslaw.com)
[5] Date Decided: January 13, 1972
[6] SYLLABUS
[7] Prisoner's pro se complaint seeking to recover damages for claimed
physical injuries and deprivation of rights in imposing disciplinary
confinement should not have been dismissed without affording him the
opportunity to present evidence on his claims.
[8] CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH
CIRCUIT.
[9] PER CURIAM DECISION
[10] Petitioner, an inmate at the Illinois State Penitentiary, Menard,
Illinois, commenced this action against the Governor of Illinois and other
state officers and prison officials under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 17
Stat. 13, 42 U. S. C. § 1983, and 28 U. S. C. § 1343 (3), seeking to
recover damages for claimed injuries and deprivation of rights while
incarcerated under a judgment not challenged here. Petitioner's pro se
complaint was premised on alleged action of prison officials placing him
in solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure after he had struck
another inmate on the head with a shovel following a verbal altercation.
The assault by petitioner on another inmate is not denied. Petitioner's
pro se complaint included general allegations of physical injuries
suffered while in disciplinary confinement and denial of due process in
the steps leading to that confinement. The claimed physical suffering was
aggravation of a pre-existing foot injury and a circulatory ailment caused
by forcing him to sleep on the floor of his cell with only blankets.
[11] The District Court granted respondents' motion under Rule 12
(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to dismiss the complaint
for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted,
suggesting that only under exceptional circumstances should courts inquire
into the internal operations of state penitentiaries and concluding that
petitioner had failed to show a deprivation of federally protected rights.
The Court of Appeals affirmed, emphasizing that prison officials are
vested with "wide discretion" in disciplinary matters. We granted
certiorari and appointed counsel to represent petitioner. The only issue
now before us is petitioner's contention that the District Court erred in
dismissing his pro se complaint without allowing him to present evidence
on his claims.
[12] Whatever may be the limits on the scope of inquiry of courts into
the internal administration of prisons, allegations such as those asserted
by petitioner, however inartfully pleaded, are sufficient to call for the
opportunity to offer supporting evidence. We cannot say with assurance
that under the allegations of the pro se complaint, which we hold to less
stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers, it appears
"beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of
his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S.
41, 45-46 (1957). See Dioguardi v. Durning, 139 F.2d 774 (CA2 1944).
[13] Accordingly, although we intimate no view whatever on the merits
of petitioner's allegations, we conclude that he is entitled to an
opportunity to offer proof. The judgment is reversed and the case is
remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith.
[14] Reversed and remanded.
[15] MR. JUSTICE POWELL and MR. JUSTICE REHNQUIST took no part in the
consideration or decision of this case.
[16] CASE RESOLUTION
[17] 427 F.2d 71, reversed and remanded.
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19720113
1972.SCT.7