Goins v. Superintendent

Filing 10

OPINION AND ORDER DISMISSING CASE, granting 9 MOTION to Dismiss filed by Superintendent.. Signed by Judge William C Lee on 4/30/14. (smp)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
SOUTH BEND DIVISION
TOMMY GOINS,
Petitioner,
v.
SUPERINTENDENT,
Respondent.

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CAUSE NO. 3:13-CV-800 WL

OPINION AND ORDER
Tommy Goins, a pro se prisoner, filed a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254
challenging a prison disciplinary proceeding. (DE 1.) On June 17, 2013, Goins was found guilty
of engaging in an unauthorized financial transaction under cause number WCC #13-05-0795.
(DE 9-2.) As a result he lost phone privileges for 28 days. (Id.) The hearing officer also imposed
a suspended sanction of 30 days lost earned-time credits. (Id.) Under the Indiana Department of
Correction Adult Disciplinary Procedures (“ADP”), a suspended sanction can only remain in
effect for six months, after which time it becomes unenforceable. (DE 9-6.) More than six
months have passed since the suspended sanction was imposed, and it was never enforced. (See
DE 9-3.)
Based on the above, the respondent moves to dismiss the petition.1 (DE 9.) As the
respondent points out, the disciplinary conviction at issue did not lengthen Goins’s sentence, nor
could it, since the suspended sanction pertaining to his earned time credits has expired. Because
the disciplinary conviction did not lengthen his sentence, Goins cannot challenge it in a habeas
petition. See Hadley v. Holmes, 341 F.3d 661, 664 (7th Cir. 2003) (prisoner can challenge

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More than 28 days have passed since the motion was filed, and no response or objection has been received.

disciplinary proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 only when the punishment imposed lengthens
the duration of his confinement); Montgomery v. Anderson, 262 F.3d 641, 643 (7th Cir. 2001)
(only a disciplinary conviction that affects the fact or duration of custody can be challenged
under 28 U.S.C. § 2254).
For the reasons set forth above, the motion to dismiss (DE 9) is GRANTED, and the
petition (DE 1) is DISMISSED.
SO ORDERED.
ENTERED: April 30, 2014
s/William C. Lee
William C. Lee, Judge
United States District Court

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