Malcolm Wilson V Angelita Castaneda
In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
____________________
No. 22-3068
MALCOLM WILSON,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
ANGELITA CASTANEDA,
Defendant-Appellee. *
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division.
No. 22-cv-822 — Jon E. DeGuilio, Judge.
____________________
ARGUED SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 — DECIDED JULY 15, 2025
____________________
* Because of the procedural posture of this case (it was dismissed on pre-
liminary screening and prior to service), the defendant-appellee did not
participate in this appeal. Upon this court’s invitation, however, the At-
torney General of Indiana filed a brief and appeared at oral argument in
this matter as amicus curiae.
2 No. 22-3068
Before BRENNAN, JACKSON-AKIWUMI, and PRYOR, Circuit
Judges.
PRYOR, Circuit Judge. Malcolm Wilson, an Indiana pris-
oner, sued Lieutenant Angelita Castaneda with the Indiana
Department of Correction. Invoking 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Wilson
alleged that Castaneda, who presided over Wilson’s discipli-
nary hearing, violated the Fourteenth Amendment by impos-
ing a restitution order without any evidence to support that
sanction. The district court dismissed Wilson’s pro se com-
plaint at the screening stage under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A and later
denied his motion for reconsideration. Wilson appeals the dis-
missal, but for the reasons discussed below, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
We review the district judge’s screening order de novo
and accept the factual allegations in the complaint as true,
drawing all reasonable inferences in Wilson’s favor and con-
struing his pro se complaint liberally. Schillinger v. Kiley, 954
F.3d 990, 994 (7th Cir. 2020). Because Wilson attached several
documents to his complaint, we consider those documents as
part of the complaint as well. Arnett v. Webster, 658 F.3d 742,
746 (7th Cir. 2011).
Wilson is incarcerated at the Indiana State Prison (ISP),
Michigan City, Indiana, in the custody of the Indiana Depart-
ment of Correction (IDOC). On April 26, 2022, security camera
footage captured Wilson running down a stairwell and into a
hallway while being chased by an inmate who was attempting
to stab Wilson. Upon entering the hallway, Wilson, attempt-
ing to defend himself, snatched a cane from another inmate
which caused that inmate to fall to the ground. Other inmates
intervened and deescalated the situation. The fallen inmate
No. 22-3068 3
was helped to his feet but doubled over in pain. The prison
later sent him to an outside hospital for medical care.
ISP charged Wilson with battery, with Lieutenant Angelita
Castaneda, a correctional officer at the prison, conducting his
disciplinary hearing on May 26, 2022. After hearing testimony
from Wilson, reviewing the conduct reports prepared by staff,
and viewing the video footage, Castaneda found Wilson
guilty of battery. Castaneda then imposed a sentence of 90
days in restrictive housing, demoted Wilson a credit class,
and—relevant to this appeal—ordered him to pay “up to
$100,000” in restitution for medical costs. On the remittance
request form, Castaneda explained that Wilson had been or-
dered to pay this amount because of his “medical battery
against another.”
On June 3, 2022, Wilson appealed the guilty finding and
restitution sanction, arguing there was insufficient evidence
to support the $100,000 restitution amount. The IDOC Appeal
Review Board eventually denied Wilson’s appeal on August
19, 2022. The Board determined there was sufficient evidence
to support Castaneda’s findings of guilt and the restitution
order.
Having exhausted his administrative remedies, Wilson
sued Castaneda under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, bringing a Fourteenth
Amendment due process claim. Wilson alleged that Cas-
taneda had imposed the restitution order without any evi-
dence to support the sanction. He attached to his complaint
various ISP forms from his disciplinary proceedings, includ-
ing an ISP officer’s conduct form summarizing the April 26
investigation; a written summary of the video recording of the
incident; findings of fact from the disciplinary hearing; and
the restitution remittance form for Wilson’s account, which
4 No. 22-3068
allowed the prison to withdraw funds to satisfy the restitution
order.
The district court dismissed Wilson’s complaint at screen-
ing. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Relying on the documents attached
to Wilson’s complaint, the district court found Castaneda had
sufficient evidence to support the restitution order. That evi-
dence, the court reasoned, demonstrated that the prison had
incurred some financial loss as a result of Wilson’s actions,
and so his due process claim failed.
Wilson moved to reconsider but filed a notice of appeal
before the district court could address the motion. Because the
pending motion caused the notice to be ineffective, we stayed
the appeal to give the district court an opportunity to consider
Wilson’s motion. See FED. R. APP. P. 4(a)(4). We lifted the stay
once the district court denied the motion.
After reviewing Wilson’s pro se opening brief, we re-
cruited counsel to appear on Wilson’s behalf and address
three questions, including:
(1) whether Wilson’s complaint stated a federal
due process claim when a disciplinary hear-
ing officer imposed restitution for costs as-
sociated with Wilson’s disciplinary infrac-
tion without evidence to support the
amount of restitution;
(2) what evidence of the amount owed, if any, is
necessary to satisfy federal due process re-
quirements; and
(3) if evidence is necessary, must that evidence
be relied on at the time a disciplinary officer
imposes restitution as a sanction or is it
No. 22-3068 5
sufficient to produce that evidence at some
later time. 1
Also, based on the procedural posture of the case—the named
defendant not participating in the appeal—we invited the In-
diana Attorney General to appear as amicus curiae to respond
to Wilson’s appellate arguments on these three issues. 2
II. ANALYSIS
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees prisoners due
process before prison officials deprive them of a protected in-
terest. Superintendent, Mass. Corr. Inst., Walpole v. Hill, 472 U.S.
445, 447 (1985); Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 556 (1974).
Wilson’s property interest in the funds in his prison trust ac-
count is a protected interest. See Campbell v. Miller, 787 F.2d
217, 222 (7th Cir. 1986); see also IND. DEP’T OF CORR., The Disci-
plinary Code for Incarcerated Adults, IX(E)(3)(e) (Effective May
1, 2023) (available at https://www.in.gov/idoc/files/policy-
and-procedure/policies/02-04-101-ADP-5-1-2023.pdf) (limit-
ing restitution to an “estimated amount.”). Therefore, before
he could be deprived of this protected interest, the Fourteenth
Amendment required ISP to provide Wilson with certain pro-
cedural protections. Hill, 472 U.S. at 453.
In the pre-deprivation prison disciplinary hearing context,
due process requires an inmate to receive (1) advance written
1 App. Dkt. 8.
2 We note that appellate counsel for Wilson raises an additional Eighth
Amendment Excessive Fines Clause argument. This argument finds no
home in Wilson’s complaint and was never raised before the district court.
We therefore decline counsel’s invitation to comment on the issue. See Boy-
ers v. Texaco Refin. & Mktg., Inc., 848 F.2d 809, 811–12 (7th Cir. 1988).
6 No. 22-3068
notice of the disciplinary charges; (2) an opportunity to de-
fend oneself, including to be heard before an impartial deci-
sionmaker, call witnesses, and present evidence in defense,
subject to certain exceptions; and (3) a written statement by
the factfinder of evidence relied on and the reasons for the
disciplinary action. Wolff, 418 U.S. at 563–67.
In addition to these procedural safeguards, a prison disci-
plinary decision must also be supported by “some evidence”
in the record. Scruggs v. Jordan, 485 F.3d 934, 941 (7th Cir. 2007)
(quoting Hill, 472 U.S. at 455). This lenient standard requires
no more than “a modicum of evidence.” Webb v. Anderson, 224
F.3d 649, 652 (7th Cir. 2000) (quoting Hill, 472 U.S. at 455); see
also McPherson v. McBride, 188 F.3d 784, 786 (7th Cir. 1999).
Our inquiry ends once this “meager threshold has been
crossed.” Scruggs, 485 F.3d at 941. We ask only whether the
record was so devoid of evidence as to make the official’s
findings arbitrary or without support. Webb, 224 F.3d at 652.
“[T]he relevant question is whether there is any evidence in
the record that could support the conclusion reached by the
disciplinary board.” Id. (quoting Hill, 472 U.S. at 455–56); see
also United States v. Kizeart, 505 F.3d 672, 675 (7th Cir. 2007) (a
prison disciplinary board’s sanction will be set aside only if it
is “plainly” unreasonable).
Wilson does not contest that his disciplinary hearing,
which resulted in his finding of guilt, complied with the three
procedural requirements of Wolff. Indeed, he was given notice
of the charges against him, he was provided an opportunity
to defend himself, and Castaneda provided her written find-
ings. He also does not contest that the finding of guilt was
supported by some evidence or that he could be ordered to
pay restitution generally upon that finding. Rather, he argues
No. 22-3068 7
that Castaneda deprived him of due process because, in his
view, the “up to $100,000” restitution figure was not substan-
tiated by any evidence.
We disagree. The disciplinary hearing documents Wilson
attached to his complaint establish that Wilson was found
guilty of battering another inmate. The reports also establish
that the injured inmate was sent to an outside hospital for
medical treatment. Although that evidence is not so precise as
to identify a specific restitution figure, it is still “some evi-
dence” to establish both Wilson’s violation and that the prison
incurred financial costs from the injured inmate’s hospital
visit. With this evidence in the record, we find there was ade-
quate support for Castaneda’s order of restitution. See Webb,
224 F.3d at 652.
Wilson further maintains that he was deprived of the right
under Wolff to view exculpatory evidence related to the in-
jured inmate’s medical bills. But “exculpatory evidence” is
evidence which tends to establish innocence. See Evidence,
Black’s Law Dictionary (12th ed. 2024). The medical bills were
not exculpatory because they would not tend to establish Wil-
son’s innocence in relation to the battery charge. Therefore,
Wolff was not violated.
Wilson argues that we should not rely on Webb because it
involved the loss of good time credits rather than restitution.
This argument is inapplicable because compliance with Wolff
is sufficient due process for either the deprivation of a liberty
interest in good time credits or the imposition of a restitution
sanction. Campbell, 787 F.2d at 224 n.12.
This case is, however, distinguishable from two of our un-
published decisions: Lindell v. Pollard, 681 F. App’x 518 (7th
8 No. 22-3068
Cir. 2017), and Tonn v. Dittmann, 607 F. App’x 589 (7th Cir.
2015). In Lindell, a Wisconsin prison ordered Lindell, a state
inmate, to pay $1,870 as restitution to reimburse the prison for
his hospital visit after he allegedly misused medication—a
finding that Lindell alleged “lack[ed] an evidentiary basis.”
681 F. App’x at 519. Because Lindell’s due process claim was
dismissed at screening, we accepted as true Lindell’s allega-
tion that the defendant “deprived him of $1,870 of his per-
sonal funds by finding him guilty of misusing medication
without any evidence backing that accusation or amount.” Id.
at 521 (emphasis added). Similarly, in Tonn, another Wiscon-
sin inmate filed a complaint alleging that his prison discipli-
nary hearing “was devoid of” evidence of “any actual or esti-
mated losses arising from his violation.” 607 F. App’x at 590.
Without any evidence at screening to refute the allegations of
Lindell or Tonn, we remanded each case for further proceed-
ings. Lindell, 681 F. App’x at 521; Tonn, 607 F. App’x at 591.
Here, however, Wilson’s attachments to his complaint
demonstrate that his disciplinary hearing did not violate the
due process requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Castaneda’s restitution order was supported by Wilson’s
statements, video evidence of the incident, and the conduct
reports of the staff which stated the injured inmate had to be
transferred to an outside hospital. This support, while mea-
ger, constitutes “some evidence” that the prison incurred
costs as a result of Wilson’s violation. See Webb, 224 F.3d at
652; see also Edwards v. Snyder, 478 F.3d 827, 830 (7th Cir. 2007)
(noting that pro se plaintiffs may inadvertently plead them-
selves out of court by pleading facts that preclude recovery).
To that end, we disagree with the dissent that the complaint
in this case may be analogized to the complaint in Lindell, and
instead find the cases materially distinguishable. In Lindell,
No. 22-3068 9
we were required to accept as true that there was no evidence
to support Lindell’s underlying conviction nor evidence of
any cost incurred for transferring an injured inmate to the
hospital. This meant that there was not any evidence to sup-
port the accusation of guilt and imposition of restitution, such
that the “some evidence” standard could not be satisfied. But
here, we have that evidence, even if thin, such that the “some
evidence” standard is satisfied. And while the record might
be clearer if a precise bill of costs for the hospital transporta-
tion and medical care were provided, the Constitution does
not require that level of precision; all that is required is “some
evidence” to support the disciplinary conclusion. Scruggs, 485
F.3d at 941; Webb, 224 F.3d at 652.
Finally, we observe that we have never required, for pur-
poses of federal due process, specific evidence of the amount
of restitution at the time a sanction is entered. Indeed, restitu-
tion is inherently limited. As described by the Indiana Depart-
ment of Correction’s disciplinary policy, the maximum resti-
tution sanction that can be imposed is “the assessed amount
of the loss.” Ind. Dep’t of Corr., The Disciplinary Code for Incar-
cerated Adults, IX(E)(3)(e) (Effective May 1, 2023). Moreover,
the code requires eventual documentation of the precise
amount, and for medical restitution, requires that prisoners
should, at some point, receive copies of redacted medical bills.
Id. n.5. It also permits a hearing officer to assess restitution for
medical costs “up to an estimated amount” if—at the time of
the hearing—the officer cannot determine the amount of res-
titution “due to ongoing medical treatment or a delay in re-
ceiving the medical bills.” Id. That Castaneda did not set an
amount when she entered the sanction, but instead proffered
an estimate, is not a constitutional violation of due process.
10 No. 22-3068
III. CONCLUSION
Because Wilson received the process that he was due, we
AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
No. 22-3068 11
JACKSON-AKIWUMI, Circuit Judge, dissenting. I agree with
the majority’s pronouncement that Hill’s “some evidence”
standard applies where prison officials seek to deprive an in-
mate of his trust account funds by imposing restitution. Ante,
at 5–6 (citing Superintendent, Mass. Corr. Inst., Walpole v. Hill,
472 U.S. 445 (1985)). I also agree with the majority that there
is wisdom we can glean from our unpublished decisions in
Tonn v. Dittmann, 607 F. App’x 589 (7th Cir. 2015), and Lindell
v. Pollard, 681 F. App’x 518 (7th Cir. 2017). See ante, at 7–8.
However, I write separately because I interpret Hill and our
unpublished decisions to compel a different result: We should
allow Wilson’s complaint to move past the screening stage
where it was dismissed, in my view, prematurely.
In Hill, the Supreme Court addressed whether a prison
disciplinary board’s revocation of good time credits violated
due process if the decision was not supported by evidence in
the record. 472 U.S. at 447. The Court held that it did and con-
cluded that due process required “some evidence support[ing]
the decision by the prison disciplinary board to revoke good
time credits.” Id. at 455 (emphasis added). Although the Court
declined to adopt a “more stringent evidentiary standard,” it
clarified the “relevant question is whether there is any evi-
dence in the record that could support the conclusion reached
by the disciplinary board.” Id. at 455–56. In other words, the
“some evidence” must be tied to the board’s ultimate conclu-
sion. See id.
The imposition of restitution, which Hill does not address,
presents a slightly different scenario than the revocation of
good time credits. With the latter, the same evidence that sup-
ports the underlying disciplinary charge will generally suffice
as support for an accompanying revocation of good time
12 No. 22-3068
credits. This is not always true for the imposition of restitu-
tion, which aims to repay the prison funds it lost because of
an inmate’s actions. See, e.g., Campbell v. Miller, 787 F.2d 217,
224 (7th Cir. 1986) (involving restitution to “make[] good the
damage [an inmate] has caused to prison property”). In my
view, if we apply Hill’s guidance to the restitution context, a
disciplinary board comports with due process if there is:
(1) some evidence supporting the conclusion of guilt on the
underlying charge and (2) some evidence supporting the con-
clusion to impose restitution.
This application of Hill finds support in our unpublished
orders, Tonn and Lindell. Both panels of judges concluded that
an inmate could plausibly allege a due process violation
where prison officials offered no evidence (separate from ev-
idence of the underlying charge) of the actual or estimated res-
titution amount imposed. See 607 F. App’x at 590 (“Tonn thus
has a protected interest in his funds to the extent that they are
not needed to reimburse the prison for expenses that it has in-
curred or, by estimate, may incur because of his rule violation.”
(emphasis added)); 681 F. App’x at 521 (allowing Lindell’s al-
legations that an officer found him “guilty of misusing medi-
cation without any evidence backing that accusation or
amount” to proceed (emphasis added)).
The majority finds Wilson’s case distinguishable because,
unlike the plaintiffs in Tonn and Lindell, Wilson attached to his
complaint a report by prison staff that the injured inmate had
to be transported to an outside hospital. Ante, at 8. The major-
ity reasons that this report suffices as “some evidence” that
the prison incurred some costs. Id. at 8–9. I offer two reasons
why I am not persuaded that this report meets even Hill’s low
evidentiary bar.
No. 22-3068 13
First, were we to apply the majority’s reasoning—that a
prison merely has to present some evidence that it incurred
some cost—to the context of criminal charges in disciplinary
proceedings, it would run contrary to Hill’s central tenet that
the evidence in the record support “the conclusion reached by
the disciplinary board.” 472 U.S. at 455–56. For example, say
a disciplinary board charges an inmate with assaulting an-
other inmate. Under Hill, the “some evidence” must support
the underlying charge of assault, not just some charge. Id. Like-
wise, it is not enough for a prison to present “some evidence”
that there were some costs. As the Tonn panel concluded, the
evidence must be tied to the “actual or estimated losses aris-
ing from [the inmate’s] violation.” See 607 F. App’x at 590.
Second, evidence of a hospital visit is not “some evidence”
of an amount owed or likely owed in restitution. Take Lindell,
where a disciplinary board imposed restitution to recoup the
costs of an inmate’s hospital visit after he misused medica-
tion. 681 F. App’x at 521. Had evidence of the hospital visit
been enough, as the majority proposes, then why would the
Lindell panel nonetheless find it necessary that the prison pro-
vide “evidence backing that … amount”? Id. I see one possible
distinction in that the prison in Lindell imposed a specific res-
titution amount of “$1,870 for medical care,” id. at 519,
whereas Wilson was assessed restitution of “up to $100,000.”
Still, the fact that Wilson’s imposed restitution was an esti-
mate does not prove that the prison provided some evidence
of that estimate.
Granted, the question before us takes us into unprece-
dented territory, but not one altogether unfamiliar to our
court. Like the majority, I recognize the Supreme Court’s low
evidentiary standard for prison disciplinary board decisions
14 No. 22-3068
in Hill. 1 Ante, at 6. At the same time, I read Hill to require that
the “some evidence” be tied to a disciplinary board’s ultimate
conclusion. 472 U.S. at 455–56. In the restitution context, I, like
the panels in Tonn and Lindell, interpret this to mean that dis-
ciplinary boards must uphold due process by providing
“some evidence” of the actual or estimated loss, not just some
loss. And this “some evidence” requirement applies even
where, as here, medical bills are not yet available and even
where, as here, the disciplinary board imposes a range for the
restitution amount. The majority offers a possible, though
narrower, interpretation of our circuit’s unpublished deci-
sions. In my view, this narrower interpretation does not com-
port with an application of Hill.
Not unreasonably, the majority leans into the prison pol-
icy on managing restitution. Ante, at 9. But, as I see it, whether
the policy calls for more refined evidence at some point after
the disciplinary hearing is beside the point. The disciplinary
board’s due process obligation to present “some evidence” of
the actual or estimated loss arises before it imposes
1 The evidentiary standard is indeed low, but I hesitate to join the ma-
jority’s suggestion that the disciplinary board’s decision must be “plainly
unreasonable.” Ante, at 6. That language comes from United States v. Ki-
zeart, where we held that “a defendant who challenges his sentence for
violating supervised release [must] show that the sentence is plainly un-
reasonable.” 505 F.3d 672, 674–75 (7th Cir. 2007). The Kizeart panel sur-
mised that its holding (about challenges to penalties for supervised release
violations) could “borrow” from the “judicial review of the sanctions im-
posed by prison disciplinary boards,” and then noted that “[s]uch sanc-
tions must indeed be ‘plainly’ unreasonable to be set aside.” Id. at 675.
Although the Kizeart panel employed this analogy, the decision offered no
caselaw demonstrating that our circuit has adopted a “plainly unreasona-
ble” standard in the prison disciplinary board context.
No. 22-3068 15
restitution. Otherwise, I fear today’s decision will grant pris-
ons a blank check for any restitution amount imposed at a dis-
ciplinary hearing. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.