Nordstrom v. Ryan, No. 12-15738 (9th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, a death row prisoner, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against Department of Corrections officials and a prison guard, alleging that the prison guard read a confidential letter he sent to his attorney, rather than merely scanning it to inspect the letter for contraband. The court concluded that plaintiff stated a Sixth Amendment claim when he alleged that prison officials read his legal mail, that they claim entitlement to do so, and that his right to private consultation with counsel has been chilled; plaintiff's allegations also support a claim for injunctive relief; and, therefore, the court reversed the district court's dismissal for failure to state a claim and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Prisoner Civil Rights. The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal, for failure to state a claim, and remanded in an action brought by an Arizona state prisoner who alleged constitutional violations when prison officials read a confidential letter he intended to send to his lawyer, instead of merely scanning and inspecting the letter for contraband. The panel held that plaintiff’s allegations that prison officials read his legal mail, that they claimed entitlement to do so, and that his right to private consultation with counsel had been chilled stated a Sixth Amendment claim. The panel also held that the allegations supported a claim for injunctive relief. Dissenting, Judge Bybee stated that the Sixth Amendment does not prevent prison officials from reading legal letters with an eye toward discovering illegal conduct and that plaintiff also failed to allege any actual injury.
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