Eric Shane Silveira v. J. Gastelo

Background

On August 31, 2020, the Court received and filed Petitioner Eric Shane Silveira’s (“Petitioner”) pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (“Petition”). (Pet., ECF No. 1.) Petitioner alleges one ground for federal habeas relief: that he was denied due process during August 2019 disciplinary proceedings for refusing to accept assigned housing, in violation of California Code of Regulations Title 15, section 3005(c). (Id. at 5–8.) Specifically, Petitioner claims that the disciplinary hearing officer deprived him of the opportunity to call witnesses and present evidence in his favor. (Id. at 6–7.)

Petitioner argues that he has a state-created right to “favorable points at six-month intervals for satisfactory behavior while in prison,” which may only be forfeited for “serious misbehavior.” (Id. at 7–8 (citing Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, § 3375.4(a))). He further argues that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause protects him against arbitrary deprivation of this state-created interest. (Id., at 8–9 (citing Edwards v. Balisok, 520 U.S. 641, 646–47 (1997)).) However, Petitioner does not explicitly seek to restore any favorable…