Denard Neal v. United States Penitentiary Atw

MEMORANDUM

Denard Neal (Neal) appeals the district court’s order denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm. We also deny Neal’s two pro se motions.

We review de novo a district court’s denial of a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 . See Murphy v. Hood, 276 F.3d 475, 477 (9th Cir.2001). We conclude that the district court’s denial of Neal’s petition was proper. Affording deference to the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) interpretation of its regulation, Auer v. Robbins, 519 U.S. 452, 461 , 117 S.Ct. 905, 911 , 137 L.Ed.2d 79 (1997), we also conclude that masturbation is a sexual act under Prohibited Act 205 of the BOP’s Disciplinary Code. Thus, we conclude that Neal had fair notice that his conduct was prohibited.

Lastly, we conclude that Neal’s due process right to an impartial Disciplinary Hearing Officer (DHO) was not violated. Neal’s DHO was both qualified and impartial. The DHO’s findings were proper and based on some evidence in the form of the reporting correctional officer’s statement. See Superintendent, Massachusetts Corr. Inst., Walpole v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 455-56 , 105 S.Ct. 2768, 2774 ,…