Learn About the Law
Get help with your legal needs
FindLaw’s Learn About the Law features thousands of informational articles to help you understand your options. And if you’re ready to hire an attorney, find one in your area who can help.
IN RE: Alejandro IZQUIERDO, Appellant, v. Glenn S. GOORD, as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Correctional Services, et al., Respondents.
Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Kavanaugh, J.), entered June 16, 1999 in Albany County, which dismissed petitioner's application, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, to review a determination of respondent Commissioner of Correctional Services finding him guilty of violating certain prison disciplinary rules.
Petitioner, an inmate, commenced this CPLR article 78 proceeding challenging an administrative determination finding him guilty of interfering with an employee, creating a disturbance and failing to comply with a disciplinary disposition.1 The charges stem from an incident wherein petitioner questioned a correction officer's refusal to issue a restroom pass during inmate movement and created a disturbance when the correction officer directed petitioner to leave because his presence in the law library was prohibited by a prior disciplinary disposition. Supreme Court rejected petitioner's arguments seeking annulment of the determination and dismissed the petition, prompting this appeal.
Initially, petitioner's contention that the determination of guilt is not supported by substantial evidence was neither raised in the petition nor addressed by Supreme Court and, therefore, we decline to address it (see, Matter of Budget Tire v. Jackson, 235 A.D.2d 975, 653 N.Y.S.2d 872). Moreover, we reject petitioner's argument that his presence in the law library was not a recreational activity that was prohibited by the prior disposition. The facility operations manual specifically provides that an inmate on loss of recreation may only access the law library under the call-out system, a procedure which petitioner failed to follow here. Finally, we are not persuaded that the reasonable restriction placed upon petitioner's access to the law library as the result of the prior disposition violated petitioner's constitutional right to access the court system or the law library (see generally, Matter of Graziadei v. Clinton Correctional Facility, 256 A.D.2d 697, 698, 681 N.Y.S.2d 800; Matter of Graziano v. Coughlin, 221 A.D.2d 684, 686, 633 N.Y.S.2d 232).
We have examined petitioner's remaining arguments and conclude that they are unpreserved for our review or without merit.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.
FOOTNOTES
1. Petitioner was also charged with but found not guilty of failing to promptly comply with an order of facility personnel.
LAHTINEN, J.
CARDONA, P.J., PETERS, SPAIN and MUGGLIN, JJ., concur.
Thank you for your feedback!
A free source of state and federal court opinions, state laws, and the United States Code. For more information about the legal concepts addressed by these cases and statutes visit FindLaw's Learn About the Law.
Decided: August 03, 2000
Court: Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.
Search our directory by legal issue
Enter information in one or both fields (Required)
Harness the power of our directory with your own profile. Select the button below to sign up.
Learn more about FindLaw’s newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy.
Get help with your legal needs
FindLaw’s Learn About the Law features thousands of informational articles to help you understand your options. And if you’re ready to hire an attorney, find one in your area who can help.
Search our directory by legal issue
Enter information in one or both fields (Required)