Reading Room Document

Due Process Requirements in Transferring Inmates From the General Prison Population to Administrative and Disciplinary Segregation (III)

This document addresses the issue of due process safeguards in involuntary transfers of prisoners to segregation within the Bureau of Prisons. It clarifies that administrative detention pending disciplinary proceedings must adhere to due process requirements outlined in Wolff v. McDonnell, and that administrative segregation cannot be used to avoid these requirements. The document also discusses the distinction between administrative and disciplinary segregation, and concludes that involuntary placement in administrative segregation triggers due process guarantees. The questions presented for review include whether administrative detention pending disciplinary proceedings is constitutionally acceptable, and whether administrative segregation should be equated with disciplinary segregation.

October 10, 1978