Filed Date: July 30, 1982
Clearinghouse coding complete
Floyd Spruytte, an inmate at the Michigan Intensive Program Center in Marquette, Michigan, filed a pro se complaint seeking declaratory and injunctive relief as well as money damages against two prison hearing officers under 42 U.S.C. §1983 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. The complaint alleged that Spruytte's due process rights were violated because of the hearing officers' decision to prohibit him from receiving a paperback dictionary from his mother. Spruytte was represented by court-appointed private counsel. The District Court (Judge Douglas W. Hillman) sua sponte dismissed Spruytte's complaint as frivolous.
Spruytte appealed, and on January 28, 1985 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Judge Boyce F. Martin, Jr.) reversed Judge Hillman's dismissal. Spruytte v. Walters, 753 F.2d 498 (6th Cir. 1985). The Court of Appeals held that under Michigan law a policy directive adopted by the Michigan Department of Corrections which only allowed inmates to receive books from publishers was invalid because it conflicted with a state regulation which allowed inmates to receive books that did not threaten security. The Court further found that this state regulation created an interest protected under due process, and because the prison officials applied the invalid policy directive only permitting inmates to receive books from publishers, they had violated the inmate's due process rights. The Court also held that the prison officials were not entitled to qualified immunity because they had violated a clearly established state regulation. Senior Circuit Judge Paul Charles Weick filed an opinion concurring in part. The case was remanded for further proceedings, and motions for a rehearing and a rehearing en banc were denied on March 27, 1985. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari on January 13, 1986. Walters v. Spruytte, 474 U.S. 1054 (1986).
The docket for this case was not available on PACER, and accordingly, we have no further information on the case.
Summary Authors
Tom Madison (11/10/2006)
Jones, Nathaniel Raphael (Ohio)
Martin, Boyce Ficklen Jr. (Kentucky)
Stowe, Meri Anne (Michigan)
Kelley, Frank J. (Michigan)
Nelson, Thomas C. (Michigan)
Jones, Nathaniel Raphael (Ohio)
Martin, Boyce Ficklen Jr. (Kentucky)
Weick, Paul Charles (Ohio)
Last updated Jan. 30, 2024, 3:03 a.m.
Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.State / Territory: Michigan
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: July 30, 1982
Case Ongoing: No reason to think so
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Prison inmate alleging violation of due process by prison officials prohibiting him from receiving paperback dictionary from his mother
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: Yes
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Michigan Intensive Program Center (Marquette), State
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Issues
General:
Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:
Type of Facility: