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Ashley v. Snyder

Case Date: 10/19/2000
Court: 4th District Appellate
Docket No: 4-99-0712 Rel

NO. 4-99-0712

19 October 2000

IN THE APPELLATE COURT

OF ILLINOIS

FOURTH DISTRICT

 

HOWARD VINCENT ASHLEY, No. B39336,
AND ALL THOSE SIMILARLY SITUATED,
               Plaintiff-Appellant,
               v.
DONALD N. SNYDER, JR.,
               Defendant-Appellee,
               and
WILLIAM E. BOYD,
               Defendant.		 )
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)		 Appeal from
Circuit Court of
Sangamon County
No. 99CH200


Honorable
Patrick W. Kelley,
Judge Presiding.

____________________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the opinion of the court:

In April 1999, plaintiff, Howard Vincent Ashley, aninmate at Henry Hill Correctional Center (HHCC), filed a pro secomplaint against defendant, Donald M. Snyder, the Director ofthe Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC), seeking to enjointhe implementation of a DOC regulation restricting the quantityof personal property an inmate could possess while incarcerated. Ashley's complaint alleged that the regulation violates numerousprovisions of the United States and Illinois Constitutions, aswell as several state and federal statutes. In May 1999, Snyderfiled a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state acause of action (735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West 1998)) and a motionrequesting a finding that Ashley's complaint was frivolous (730ILCS 5/3-6-3(d)(1) (West 1998)). Following a hearing, the trialcourt dismissed Ashley's complaint and denied Snyder's motion fora finding that the complaint was frivolous.

Ashley appeals, arguing that the trial court erred bydismissing his complaint, and we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In March 1999, prison officials at HHCC issued "InmateBulletin # 99-028" (hereafter the Bulletin), which provided that,beginning the following month, inmates would be required to keepmost of their personal property in a storage box (measuring 11inches high, 32 1/2 inches long, and 20 1/2 inches wide) at alltimes. Inmates could keep five of the following items in theircells even if they would not fit into a storage box: a fan, atelevision, an AM/FM radio, an AM/FM radio cassette player, aWalkman, a beard trimmer, an electric shaver, a calculator, adesk light, a hot pot, and a typewriter. Inmates would berequired to dispose of all other personal property that would notfit into their storage boxes and would have 30 days in which tohave the excess personal property (1) shipped out (at the inmate's expense), (2) picked up by a visitor, or (3) destroyed. The Bulletin further provided that inmates could also obtain acorrespondence box, which would be used only to store legalmaterials, reading materials, and correspondence items.

In April 1999, Ashley filed a pro se complaint againstSnyder and William E. Boyd, HHCC's chief administrative officer,seeking to enjoin implementation of the Bulletin. (Boyd wasnever served with the complaint, and he is not a party to thisappeal.) Ashley's complaint alleged that implementation of theBulletin (1) violates his right to due process of law, (2)constitutes an ex post facto enactment, (3) constitutes anunreasonable seizure under the fourth amendment (U.S. Const.,amend. IV), (4) violates the eighth amendment's prohibitionagainst cruel and unusual punishment (U.S. Const., amend. VIII),(5) violates the equal protection clause of the fourteenthamendment (U.S. Const., amend. XIV,