Robinson, Cory D. v. Snyder, Donald ( 2005 )


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  •                               UNPUBLISHED ORDER
    Not to be cited per Circuit Rule 53
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Seventh Circuit
    Chicago, Illinois 60604
    Submitted July 21, 2005*
    Decided July 21, 2005
    Before
    Hon. WILLIAM J. BAUER, Circuit Judge
    Hon. RICHARD D. CUDAHY, Circuit Judge
    Hon. DIANE S. SYKES, Circuit Judge
    No. 04-2923
    CORY D. ROBINSON,                                Appeal from the United States
    Plaintiff-Appellant,                         District Court for the Central
    District of Illinois
    v.
    No. 02-CV-3126
    DONALD N. SNYDER, JR., et al.,
    Defendants-Appellees.                        Harold A. Baker,
    Judge.
    ORDER
    Cory Robinson claims in this action under 
    42 U.S.C. § 1983
     that prison
    employees held him in disciplinary segregation on fabricated charges and retaliated
    when he complained about the guard who brought the charges. The district court
    first dismissed Robinson’s due process claim, explaining that disciplinary
    segregation does not threaten a constitutionally protected liberty interest. The
    *
    After examining the briefs and record, we conclude that oral argument is
    unnecessary. Thus, the appeal is submitted on the briefs and the record. See Fed.
    R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
    No. 04-2923                                                                  Page 2
    court later granted summary judgment for the defendants on Robinson’s equal
    protection and First Amendment claims, reasoning that Robinson lacked evidence
    to support his allegation that he was falsely accused because he is African
    American, or his allegation that his grievance prompted the defendants to lengthen
    his stay in segregation. We affirm.
    On September 10, 2001, Robinson left his cell at the Dixon Correctional
    Center in Illinois when correctional officer Anthony Alano called the inmates for
    evening yard time. The doors to the yard were still closed when Robinson reached
    the group of inmates waiting to go outside, so he returned to the control window
    and asked Alano why the doors had not been opened. Alano answered that one of
    the waiting inmates had yelled an insult, and that the doors would remain shut
    until the unknown inmate came forward and confessed. According to Alano,
    Robinson countered that he may as well “open the fucking doors” because no inmate
    was going to come forward. In his complaint Robinson disputed cursing but
    acknowledged that he told Alano: “Man, ain’t nobody about to come tell on
    themselves. You might as well chalk that up as a loss.” Robinson also told Alano
    that he was making everyone “pay for the action of one person” and that he was
    “making the situation worse.”
    At this point Alano asked Robinson his name. Robinson asked Alano why he
    needed his name, and Alano repeated the question. Robinson answered that he had
    already given his name when he signed out for the yard. Alano then asked a third
    time, and Robinson gave him his identification card. Alano wrote down Robinson’s
    name and opened the doors to the yard.
    As a result of the confrontation, Alano filed an inmate disciplinary report
    charging Robinson with disobeying a direct order, insolence, and threats and
    intimidation. That same day, after being placed in segregation, Robinson filed a
    grievance complaining that the report was false and requesting release from
    segregation. On September 17, an adjustment committee conducted a hearing on
    the disciplinary report. Robinson testified and also submitted written statements
    from several witnesses. The committee found Robinson guilty of disobeying and
    insolence for refusing to provide his name and criticizing Alano’s handling of the
    incident, but absolved him of threats and intimidation. The committee
    recommended that Robinson be placed in disciplinary segregation for 12 days, and
    the warden affirmed the recommendation.
    Robinson first argues that the district court erred in dismissing his due
    process claim because the adjustment committee refused to let his witnesses testify
    in person and, he says, convicted him without adequate evidence. But the Due
    Process Clause does not mandate procedural safeguards unless there exists a
    constitutionally protected liberty interest. See Lekas v. Briley, 
    405 F.3d 602
    , 607
    No. 04-2923                                                                   Page 3
    (7th Cir. 2005). Robinson was punished only with disciplinary segregation, and
    while punishments that impose “atypical and significant hardship on the inmate in
    relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life” may implicate a liberty interest,
    Sandin v. Conner, 
    515 U.S. 472
    , 483-84 (1995); see also Wilkinson v. Austin, 
    125 S. Ct. 2384
    , 2394 (2005), we have held that disciplinary segregation does not rise to
    such a level, Williams v. Ramos, 
    71 F.3d 1246
    , 1248-50 (7th Cir. 1995).
    Robinson next argues that the district court erred in granting summary
    judgment on his equal protection claim. Robinson’s theory of racial discrimination
    is undercut by his admission that other African American inmates who yelled at
    Alano that day were never disciplined. Cf. Lucas v. Chicago Transit Authority, 
    367 F.3d 714
    , 732 (7th Cir. 2004) (requiring proof that similarly situated individuals
    “who were not members of the protected class” were treated more favorably in order
    to establish racial intent). Regardless, Robinson and the other inmates were not
    similarly situated. See Bell v. Duperrault, 
    367 F.3d 703
    , 707 (7th Cir. 2004).
    Robinson was charged because he, admittedly, was the only inmate to approach
    Alano and directly challenge the logic behind his decision to keep the door to the
    yard closed. In addition, Robinson was the only inmate who refused to provide his
    name when requested by Alano. Accordingly, Robinson’s altercation with Alano
    provided a basis for a disciplinary charge that was not shared by the other inmates
    who simply yelled for the doors to be opened.
    Robinson’s retaliation argument is equally meritless. Robinson contends that
    the members of the adjustment committee retaliated for his grievance against
    Alano by refusing to take into account his time served in segregation in imposing
    his disciplinary sentence. However, Robinson’s grievance was not resolved until
    after the hearing, and Robinson does not explain how the committee members knew
    about the existence of the grievance. Robinson’s mere speculation that there is a
    causal link between grievance and punishment is insufficient to survive a motion
    for summary judgment on his retaliation claim. See Borcky v. Maytag Corp., 
    248 F.3d 691
    , 695-97 (7th Cir. 2001).
    AFFIRMED.