Fidtler v. PA Department of Corrections

Opinions of the United
2002 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
11-25-2002
Fidtler v. PA Dept Corrections
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 01-3994
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"Fidtler v. PA Dept Corrections" (2002). 2002 Decisions. Paper 767.
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
____________
No: 01-3994
____________
JOSEPH FIDTLER,
Appellant
v.
PA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS;
CHARLES STROUP; KAREN RODGERS;
CHARLES MCCLOSKEY; RAY P. SMITH
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civil Action No. 01-cv-00955)
District Judge: Honorable Yvette Kane
Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
on September 9, 2002
Before: NYGAARD, ROTH
and WEIS Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: November 25, 2002)
OPINION
ROTH, Circuit Judge:
Appellant Joseph Fidtler brought a civil rights action in the Court of Common Pleas
of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, against the Department of Corrections and
several of its employees. In his suit, he challenged a new prison policy on inmate
compensation. The defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the
Middle District of Pennsylvania. The District Court dismissed his suit and Fidtler
appealed.
Pursuant to Department of Corrections Amendment 816, “any inmate refusing an
education program should not be compensated in any manner.” Because Fidtler refused to
participate in an adult education program, he was refused “idle pay.” “Idle pay” is given to
inmates who, through no fault of their own, do not have a prison work assignment. DC
ADM 816-5. Fidtler claims on appeal that (1) the claims brought against the Department of
Corrections for Pennsylvania are not barred by the Eleventh Amendment, (2) the refusal of
an allowance without notice or a hearing violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s conception
of due process, and (3) the policy change constitutes an illegal ex post facto law.
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 from the final order dismissing
the case under Rule 12(b)(6). We exercise plenary review to determine whether Fidtler is
entitled to any relief under any reasonable reading of the pleadings. Langford v. City of
Atlantic City, 235 F.3d 845, 847 (3d Cir. 2000) (citing Nami v. Fauver, 82 F.3d 63, 65 (3d
2
Cir. 1996)).
The District Court concluded that Fidtler’s claim was barred by the Eleventh
Amendment on the basis that a state agency is not a person within the meaning of 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983. See Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 71 (1991). Under Will, a
suit in federal court against the state or one of its agencies is barred by the Eleventh
Amendment. However, since the time that the District Court dismissed Fidtler’s claim
against the department and the individual defendants in their official capacities as barred by
the Eleventh Amendment, the Supreme Court has ruled in Lapides v. Board of Regents of
the University System of Georgia, 122 S. Cit. 1640 (2002), that a state’s removal of a suit
to federal court constitutes waiver of its Eleventh Amendment immunity. Under Lapides,
therefore, the dismissal of the claims on Eleventh Amendment grounds cannot stand.
The District Court did, however, go on to consider the merits of Fidtler’s claim.
First, the District Court held that Fidtler had failed to show an interest in receiving idle pay
which was protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See
Aultman v. Dept. of Corrections, 686 A.2d 40, 42-42 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1996), aff’d 701
A.2d 1359 (Pa. 1997); McCoy v. Chesney, 1996 WL 119990, **2-3 (E.D.Pa. Mar. 18,
1996). Additionally, we have held that a state inmate does not have a liberty or property
interest in prison employment. Bryan v. Verner, 516 F.2d 233, 240 (3d Cir. 1975).
Therefore, Fidtler has failed to show an interest protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Moreover, we agree with the District Court that the new policy does not constitute
an illegal ex post facto law. The Supreme Court has described an illegal ex post facto law
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as one “which imposes a punishment for an act which was not punishable at the time it was
committed; or imposes additional punishment to that then prescribed.” Weaver v. Graham,
450 U.S. 24, 28 (1981) (quoting Cummings v. Missouri, 18 L.Ed. 356 (1867)). Further,
the ex post facto clause only applies to laws that are penal in nature. Collins v.
Youngblood, 497 U.S. 37, 41 (1990).
The enactment of the new policy is not punitive. It is meant only to encourage
inmates to participate in educational programs. Courts give broad deference to prison
administrators’ policies that are “reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.”
Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89 (1987). Moreover, the policy does not affect Fidtler’s
term of incarceration in any way. Hence, the policy does not fall within the ambit of an
illegal ex post facto law.
Because we agree with the District Court that there is no due process violation and
that the new policy is not an illegal ex post facto law, we will affirm the dismissal of
Fidtler’s action by the District Court.
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TO THE CLERK:
Please file the foregoing Opinion.
By the Court,
/s/ Jane R. Roth
Circuit Judge
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