Murphy v. Missouri Dep't of Corrections, 86-1155

• Decision Date: 08 May 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-1155,86-1155
• Citation: 814 F.2d 1252
• Parties: Michael MURPHY, Ron Seiter, Sammy Barnard, Gary Niswonger, similarly situated Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. MISSOURI DEP'T OF CORRECTIONS, et al.; Terry Morris--Superintendent; Jimmy Jones--Asst. Superintendent; K. Wilkerson; Sally Walls, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1252

814 F.2d 1252

Michael MURPHY, Ron Seiter, Sammy Barnard, Gary Niswonger, similarly situated Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. MISSOURI DEP'T OF CORRECTIONS, et al.; Terry

Morris--Superintendent; Jimmy Jones--Asst.

Superintendent; K. Wilkerson; Sally

Walls, Appellees.

No. 86-1155.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Nov. 12, 1986.

Decided March 19, 1987.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied May 8, 1987.

Eric M. Schmitz, St. Louis, Mo., for appellants.

Kelly Mescher, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, Mo., for appellees.

Before McMILLIAN and ARNOLD, Circuit Judges, and ARNOLD, ^* District Judge.

McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge.

Appellants are inmates or former inmates at the Missouri Training Center for Men (MTCM or the prison) who are members of the Aryan Nations, Church of Jesus Christ Christian (Aryan Nations). Appellants brought this action under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 in two counts. Both counts were essentially the same and asked for similar relief. For this reason both counts were considered as one complaint. The action was brought against named officials of the Missouri Department of Corrections (the prison officials) claiming that the new mail policy at the prison and certain conduct of the prison officials had denied appellants access to and communication with Aryan Nations in violation of the first amendment and the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. The United States Magistrate for the Eastern District of Missouri (the district court) ¹ entered final judgment in favor of the prison officials. Murphy v. Missouri Dep't of Corrections, No. N84-38-C (E.D.Mo. Dec. 19, 1985) For reversal, appellants argue the district court (1) entered judgment inconsistent with its factual findings, (2) should have made a specific factual finding that Aryan Nations is a religion entitled to constitutional protection, (3) erroneously held that appellants failed to state a claim based on the prison officials' failure to recognize Aryan Nations as a religious organization at the prison, (4) erroneously concluded that appellants' rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion were not unconstitutionally restricted by the prison's new mail policy, (5) erroneously concluded that appellants' rights to procedural due process were satisfied by the existence of a formal grievance procedure at the prison, and (6) failed to award attorney's fees to appellants as the prevailing parties in this civil rights action. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm in part, reverse in part and remand the case to the district court with instructions for entry of new judgment and for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

(memorandum order). This appeal followed.

Facts

The essential facts of this case are not disputed. Before January 1984, inmates at MTCM were allowed to receive correspondence and literature from Aryan Nations ² without special restriction. A new mail policy was instituted at MTCM in January 1984. Under the new mail policy, prison officials withheld delivery of literature or correspondence addressed to an inmate from any organization that espoused the supremacy, purity or separation of the white race. Prison officials responsible for reviewing inmate mail were specifically told to watch for Aryan Nations materials. Prison officials dispute the characterization of the new mail policy as a total ban on Aryan Nations materials. They admit, however, that since the new mail policy was instituted, no Aryan Nations materials have been allowed into MTCM. Prison officials testified that they believe literature espousing racial separation or white supremacy increases tension and racial unrest at the prison and that withholding delivery of these materials is necessary to ensure prison security.

It is the policy of the prison to give notice to an inmate each time delivery of a piece of mail addressed to him is withheld. The inmate may then file an institutional grievance to protest the decision. Appellants contend, however, that they were notified by prison officials only once, in early 1984, that delivery of Aryan Nations materials and correspondence would be withheld pursuant to the new mail policy. When shown the withheld mail, appellant Ron Seiter testified that most of the envelopes were still sealed, although the material clearly bore an Aryan Nations' return address. Appellants testified that they were not permitted to inspect the individual pieces of mail being withheld. Appellants claim that they orally protested the withholding decision at this time, but that their protest was rejected.

On December 27, 1983, appellant Michael Murphy requested a payment from his personal funds to have Aryan Nations books and taped sermons sent to him at the prison. He did not specify which materials in the organization's catalog of publications he intended to purchase. A prison official wrote "not approved" across Murphy's request. Murphy protested in writing, and the prison official responded in writing that the request for payment was refused by orders of the prison superintendent. The prison official stated, "it is in my authority under Missouri law. Case closed," and Appellants testified that in the spring of 1984 they talked to the MTCM superintendent about recognition of Aryan Nations as a religious organization at the prison. Members of recognized religious organizations have certain institutional privileges at MTCM, including the right to assemble and to meet with religious leaders, and access to certain prison funds. The MTCM superintendent recalled the conversation and said he "made it clear" to appellants at that time that he was "adamantly opposed" to recognizing Aryan Nations. Appellants never formally requested recognition of Aryan Nations as a religious organization at MTCM.

gave Murphy no further explanation. A prison policy requires that when an inmate's request for personal funds is denied, notice and a statement of reasons are to be given. ³

MTCM officials testified that they equate Aryan Nations with the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent prison gang, and that they believe there is some connection between Aryan Nations and the Aryan Brotherhood. They acknowledged, however, that they have no direct evidence that appellants are members of a gang or that appellants have been involved in racial violence while incarcerated at MTCM.

Appellants brought this civil rights action in September 1984, alleging that the new mail policy withholding delivery of Aryan Nations materials and the prison officials' refusal to recognize Aryan Nations as a religious organization at MTCM violated their first amendment rights to free speech and to the free exercise of religious belief. They also alleged the implementation of the new mail policy denied them procedural due process. They sought damages and declaratory and injunctive relief. ⁴

Analysis

The heart of appellants' argument on appeal is that the district court entered a judgment inconsistent with its factual findings. Appellants argue that even though the district court made factual findings in their favor on both first amendment and due process claims, and, in effect granted them injunctive relief, the district court inexplicably concluded that no constitutional violations had been established and entered judgment in favor of prison officials. This claim that the conclusions of law and judgment are inconsistent with the factual findings is inextricably linked with appellants' direct challenges in this appeal to the substance of the district court's conclusions of law. Our analysis of appellants' contentions must begin, therefore, with a careful review of the district court memorandum and order.

Free Speech and Free Exercise of Religion

We will consider first appellants' claim that the new mail policy violates their first amendment rights to free speech and to the free exercise of religion. Appellants raise, as a preliminary issue, the claim that the district court should have made a specific factual finding that Aryan Nations is a religion meriting constitutional protection. This court has held that only sincere religious beliefs are protected by the first amendment. Wiggins v. Sargent, 753 F.2d 663, 666 (8th Cir.1985) (Wiggins ). We have also recognized that a belief with political or secular aspects may be religious in nature. Id. at 667. We decline to hold in this case, however, that the district court erred in not making an explicit finding on this issue. The district court's analysis of the religious freedom claims raised indicates that it assumed the inmates' beliefs merited constitutional protection. Appellants have suffered no harm by the lack of Prisoners retain first amendment rights while incarcerated, Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 545, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1877, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979), although exercise of these rights is limited by the fact of confinement and the needs of the penal institution. Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Union, 433 U.S. 119, 125, 97 S.Ct. 2532, 2537, 53 L.Ed.2d 629 (1977). The United States Supreme Court has held that censorship of prisoner mail is constitutionally justified if (1) the policy or practice of censorship furthers an "important or substantial governmental interest unrelated to the suppression of expression," including prison security and order or rehabilitation, and (2) the limitation of free expression is "no greater than necessary or essential to the protection of the particular governmental interest involved." Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 413, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 1811, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974) (Procunier ). Accord Wiggins, 753 F.2d at 667 (prisoners have first amendment right to receive mail subject to restrictions necessary to protect prison security). A similar standard governs the constitutionality of restrictions on the free exercise of prisoners' religious beliefs. The need for a particular prison regulation limiting free exercise is to be balanced against the invasion of...