ADMINISTRATIVE LAW — CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
01-2-0244 I/M/O Carter, App. Div. (per curiam) (13 pp.) Appellant, a county corrections officer, appeals the final administrative decision of the Civil Service Commission rejecting the ALJ's recommendation that the disciplinary charges against him be dismissed and upholding the imposition by the county of a 120-day suspension arising out of an incident in which he struck an unruly inmate in the face with a closed fist and then indicated in an incident report that the inmate was subdued "with minimum force." The panel affirms, finding that the commission adequately explained its reasons for reaching a different result than the ALJ, that its conclusion is fully consistent with the county's regulations which prohibit the use of force to the head in the absence of a life-threatening situation, that the ALJ did not determine that appellant faced a life-threatening situation which is a prerequisite for his action, that the ALJ's explanation of Carter's report – that it reflected his estimation of the minimal force required – does not address whether he accurately described what happened, that a closed-fist punch to the head cannot accurately be described as minimum force, and that the commission's decision was not arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable.
