Scott C. Smith v. Carol Noonan James Blodgett

Scott C. Smith, an inmate in the Washington State Penitentiary, appeals from a district court’s dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. .§ 1983 civil rights action that alleged that he was denied due process when prison officials placed him in administrative segregation (ad-seg). The district court dismissed his action, holding that prison officials were entitled to qualified immunity. We AFFIRM on other grounds.

I

Prison officials placed Smith in ad-seg while investigating allegations that he threatened to assault an inmate and an officer. He filed, an action against Hearing Officer Carol Noonan and Superintendent James Blodgett, alleging a violation of a liberty interest to remain in the general prison population and deprivation of due process rights.

Smith moved for summary judgment and the State filed a cross-motion. The court granted the State’s motion, finding that Noo-nan and Blodgett were entitled to qualified immunity. In its order, the court assumed that the Washington Administrative Code [WAC] created a liberty interest for prisoners to remain in the general population. It recognized, however, that district courts were divided on this issue. Because the court lacked a “clearly…