Tenth Orders Issuance of 2241 HC Writ

Wilson v. Jones, --- F.3d ----, 2005 WL 3307368 (10th Cir. Dec 07, 2005)

10th remands for issuance of writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. For “Class X” misconduct in Oklahoma state prison (using his savings account to pay for certain legal copying costs, which was contrary to law!), P’s classification was lowered so that he lost the ability to accumulate good time credits altogether for a period, and would thereafter be earning them at a lower rate. 10th held: (1)following Gamble, in a claim such as this it would be futile to pursue state court remedies after exhausting administrative remedies; (2) analyzing S. Ct. Sandin decision, P has a liberty interest in his good-time credit earning classification because it has a direct impact on the length of sentence. This determination is supported by fact that prison had no discretion whether to impose the punishment if there was a finding of Class X misconduct; (3) in this case insufficient evidence that P engaged in deception, trickery, false pretenses, etc. to gain access to and use his savings account.