Wolff v. McDonnell
- Decided
- June 26, 1974
- Docket
- 73-679
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 12,327 timesAbrogated in part on other grounds (not yet verified)Possible negative treatment: abrogated in part on other grounds (not yet verified) · Hobbs v. Cappelluti
What later courts said
- recognizing that prisoners might enjoy procedural due process protections and that state law could create protected liberty interests — Anthony Dewalt v. Lamark Carter, Correctional Officer Young, Carol Biester (2000)
- holding that a prisoner cannot be deprived of a protected liberty interest in good-time credits without procedural due process — Hudson v. Johnson (2001)
- holding that Nebraska’s system of depriving inmates of good time credits as a sanction implicates due process concerns — Pedro Gonzales-Perez v. Charles Harper (2001)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Mr. Justice White delivered the opinion of the Court.
We granted the petition for writ of certiorari in this case, 414 U. S. 1156 (1974), because it raises important questions concerning the administration of a state prison.
Respondent, on behalf of himself and other inmates of the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex, Lincoln, Nebraska, filed a complaint under 42 U. S. C. § 1983[1] challenging several of the practices, rules, and regulations of the Complex. For present purposes, the pertinent [*543] allegations were that disciplinary proceedings did not comply with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution; that the inmate legal assistance program did not meet constitutional standards, and that the regulations governing the inspection of mail to and from attorneys for inmates were unconstitutionally restrictive. Respondent requested damages and injunctive relief.
Statutes cited
Cite this
Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974)Read the full opinion
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