Wolff v. McDonnell

Wolff v. McDonnell
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 22, 1974 Decided June 26, 1974
Full case name	Wolff, Warden, et al. v. McDonnell
Docket no.	73-679
Citations	418 U.S. 539 (more) 94 S. Ct. 2963; 41 L. Ed. 2d 935; 1974 U.S. LEXIS 91
Case history
Prior	Judgment for plaintiffs in part, 342 F. Supp. 616 (D. Neb. 1972); aff'd in part, 483 F. 2d 1059 (8th Cir. 1973); cert. granted, 414 U.S. 1156 (1974).
Holding
In administrative proceedings regarding discipline, prisoners retain some of their due process rights.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William O. Douglas · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist
Case opinions
Majority	White, joined by Burger, Stewart, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist
Concur/dissent	Marshall, joined by Brennan
Concur/dissent	Douglas
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV

Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that prisoners retained some due process rights when incarcerated. In particular, the Court ruled that due process required that prison disciplinary decisions to revoke good-time credits must be accompanied by notification of the inmate, administrative hearings, the chance to call witnesses and present evidence, and a written statement detailing the nature of the offense committed and the evidence for said offense.