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Mason v. Snyder

Case Date: 08/01/2002
Court: 4th District Appellate
Docket No: 4-01-0878 Rel

NO. 4-01-0878

IN THE APPELLATE COURT

OF ILLINOIS

FOURTH DISTRICT



MICHAEL MASON,

            Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

DONALD N. SNYDER,

Defendant-Appellee.

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Appeal from

Circuit Court of

Livingston County

No. 01MR79



Honorable

Harold J. Frobish,

Judge Presiding.

 

JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the opinion of the court:

In August 2001, plaintiff, Michael Mason, an inmate atthe Pontiac Correctional Center (Pontiac), filed a pro se mandamus petition against Donald N. Snyder (Director), Director of theIllinois Department of Corrections (DOC). The petition allegedthat various DOC administrative bodies had either found himguilty or confirmed a guilty finding that he had violated DOCdisciplinary rules, resulting in his loss of good-time creditsand an adverse classification status within DOC. Plaintiff askedthe trial court to issue an order of mandamus (1) expunging thedisciplinary action taken against him by DOC, and (2) directingDOC to provide him a proper disciplinary hearing.

Four days after the petition was filed, the trial courtsua sponte reviewed it, concluded that it did not state a causeof action, and ordered it stricken.

Plaintiff appeals, and we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff's petition, which consisted primarily of apreprinted form with blank spaces for the insertion of specificinformation, stated that plaintiff was a Pontiac inmate serving a60-year sentence for first degree murder. The petition allegedthat the Director was responsible for "the Illinois Department ofCorrections, Administrative Review Board, and Prisoner ReviewBoard Disciplinary hearings on appeal." The preprinted portionthen alleged that plaintiff had requested that "the defendants[sic] perform specific ministerial duties. The defendants haverefused to perform such duties regardless of plaintiff's clearentitlement to performance of the specific duties[,] which areset forth as follows." The only thing plaintiff wrote in theblank space after this preprinted section was the following: "20Ill. Adm. Code Section 504.80(k)(1)."

On the preprinted portion stating, "As a result of[d]efendant's actions, [p]laintiff will suffer irreparabledamages and be subjected to _________," plaintiff wrote thefollowing: "unlawful punitive segregation, loss of good-timecredits, and loss of institutional privileges."

The section of the Illinois Administrative Code (Code)to which the petition refers states only that if the prisonadjustment committee finds the inmate did not commit the offensecharged, then the disciplinary report shall be dismissed andexpunged from the inmate's master record file. 20 Ill. Adm. Code