Foust v. Nooth
Foust v. Nooth
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff, an inmate incarcerated at the Snake River Correctional Institution, appeals from a general judgment of dismissal without prejudice of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under ORS 34.362. In the petition, plaintiff sought to challenge his detention in administrative segregation. Defendant moved to deny the petition under ORS 34.680(l)
We review for legal error a trial court’s grant of a motion to deny a petition for habeas corpus relief under ORS 34.680(1). See Barrett v. Williams, 247 Or App 309, 311, 270 P3d 285 (2011), rev den, 352 Or 25 (2012) (so doing). A motion to deny under ORS 34.680(1) is the equivalent of a motion to dismiss a civil complaint under ORCP 21 A(8).
Although plaintiffs allegations arguably are sufficient to plead the first element,
“Inmate is administratively segregated not in compliance with OAR 291-046. The mandatory language in OAR 291-046 is clearly defined and inmate was not afforded due process. The institutional grievance process does not afford inmate a timely remedy. Oregon Constitutional and United States Constitutional Rights have been violated as well as Oregon law.
“Inmate remains in punitive segregation, housed with no Basic Services or Programs as offered similarly situated inmates.
*41 “In addition inmate is subject to this continued deprivation of his liberty as a result of filing a report of assault by staff to the Oregon Inspector General.”
Those allegations omit any of the factual particulars of the process associated with plaintiffs placement in administrative segregation. Absent allegations of the factual particulars of plaintiffs confinement apart from the general population — including, for example, allegations about the length of time that plaintiff has been in administrative segregation, whether plaintiff has had a paper or in-person hearing in connection with that placement and, if so, when that hearing took place and how it was conducted — the petition does not state facts sufficient to demonstrate that the process connected to plaintiffs assignment to administrative segregation fails to satisfy the requirements of due process.
Affirmed.
ORS 34.680(1) states in pertinent part, “[t]he defendant may, before the writ issues, move to deny the petition on the grounds that the petition fails to state a claim for habeas corpus relief.”
ORCP 21 A(8) provides for the dismissal of a complaint for “failure to state ultimate facts sufficient to constitute a claim.”
In Barrett, the Supreme Court assumed without deciding that the plaintiff’s allegations regarding his assignment to the Intensive Management Unit (IMU) sufficiently alleged the first element of a due-process claim predicated on confinement outside of the general inmate population. 344 Or at 106. The court ultimately concluded that plaintiff’s allegations that he was not provided with a hearing before he was placed in the IMU failed to state a claim because due process does not require a formal preplacement hearing before an inmate is housed apart from the general population. Id. at 106-08.
As noted, the trial court’s judgment of dismissal was without prejudice, and, thus, would not preclude plaintiff from filing a new petition for habeas corpus relief containing the necessary particularized allegations of fact. Plaintiff does not suggest on appeal that the trial court erred by dismissing the case without first granting plaintiff leave to amend the petition.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.