18-d-6 "impartial" Hearing Officer

• Library: A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual (2020 Edition)

18-D-6. "Impartial" Hearing Officer

According to Wolff v. McDonnell, you have the right to have an unbiasedhearing officer conduct your disciplinary proceeding. ¹⁸⁶ The hearing officer does not have to meet the very high standard of impartiality that applies to judges. ¹⁸⁷ The officer, however, cannot be biased against you as to create a "hazard of arbitrary decisionmaking . . . violative of due process." ¹⁸⁸ To prove that the hearing officer is biased against you, you must provide "evidence that the decisionmaker has actually prejudged the case or [had a] direct personal involvement in the underlying charge." ¹⁸⁹ For example, one court found a hearing officer's refusal to consider evidence in support of the prisoner's claim was proof of possible bias.¹⁹⁰ The court explained, "where a hearing officer indicates on the record that, without considering the evidence, he finds a prisoner's factual defense inconceivable, we cannot conclude that the prisoner had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue." ¹⁹¹ In another case, the court dismissed a disciplinary hearing decision given that what the hearing officer did (saying "Okay now. You have to convince me that you're not guilty") suggested bias against the prisoner.¹⁹²

The New York regulations touch on the issue of impartiality, but they do not guarantee you will have an impartial hearing officer. There are different...