Plaintiff, a Virginia prison inmate, filed a complaint under 42 U.S. C. section 1983 claiming that prison officials had violated his procedural due process rights during a prison disciplinary proceeding that resulted in a $10.00 fine. Finding that the inmate had failed to state a viable due process claim, the circuit court dismissed  the case on demurrer.

The Supreme Court of Virginia unanimously affirmed, ruling that by virtue of his inability to show that his prison disciplinary hearing was fundamentally unfair or that it had prejudiced him in any way, the inmate had not suffered any due process violation.