State of NH v. Adams
Case Date: 11/13/1998
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 98-1244
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For the First Circuit No. 98-1244 STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE (DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION), Petitioner, Appellee, v. MARC ADAMS, Respondent, Appellant. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE [Hon. Steven J. McAuliffe, U.S. District Judge] Before Selya, Circuit Judge, Aldrich and Coffin, Senior Circuit Judges. Jon Meyer, with whom Backus, Meyer, Solomon, Rood & Branch, Peter S. Smith, and Disabilities Rights Center were on brief, for appellant. Nancy J. Smith, Assistant Attorney General, with whom Philip T. McLaughlin, Attorney General, was on brief, for appellee. November 12, 1998 SELYA, Circuit Judge. After the district court denied Marc Adams' application for attorneys' fees on the ground that he had not prevailed in proceedings under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. 1400-1485, Adams launched this appeal. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND In 1991, a New Hampshire state court sentenced Adams to 15-to-30 years in the state penitentiary for manslaughter. After Adams began serving his sentence (at age 20), he pointed to a learning disability, alleged a denial of his entitlement to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) under the IDEA, and requested a due process hearing. Prior to the hearing, the parties reached an accord, embodied in a consent decree (the Decree) entered by the hearing officer. The Decree confirmed Adams' entitlement to a FAPE and obligated the school district in which the prison was located to develop an individualized education program (IEP) for each year of a two-year span (apparently compensating for a period during which Adams had not received a FAPE). The IEP took effect early in 1993. The burden of implementation fell on the State. When the parties framed the IEP, Adams was classified by correctional authorities as a moderately high-risk (C-4) inmate and housed accordingly. This classification permitted full implementation of his IEP. Adams thereafter committed a series of disciplinary infractions, resulting in a change of classification to C-5 (maximum security risk) and placement in the prison's secure housing unit (SHU). Inmates housed in the SHU are subject to severe constraints on movement (e.g., they are permitted neither to interact with convicts in other classifications nor to leave the SHU except for medical emergencies and other exigencies). On the infrequent occasions when they do depart the SHU, C-5 inmates are handcuffed, shackled, and accompanied by guards. Thus, although the IEP entitled Adams to 5 |