Bach v. People of State of Ill.
| Decision Date | 08 July 1974 |
| Docket Number | No. 73-1290,73-1290 |
| Citation | 504 F.2d 1100 |
| Parties | Ernest BACH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PEOPLE OF the STATE OF ILLINOIS and Peter B. Bensinger et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Ernest Bach, Ivan E. Bodensteiner, Valparaiso University, School of Law, Valparaiso, Ind., for plaintiff-appellant.
Frank S. Merritt and Howard M. Rubin, Chicago, Ill., for amicus.
William J. Scott, Atty. Gen., James B. Zagel, Asst. Atty. Gen., Chicago, Ill., for defendants-appellees.
Before SWYGERT, Chief Judge, HASTINGS, Senior Circuit Judge, and CUMMINGS, Circuit Judge.
Plaintiff Ernest Bach brought a civil rights action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief along with monetary damages against various state prison officials. In his pro se complaint, plaintiff alleges certain irregularities in the handling of his mail while being incarcerated in a state penitentiary. The district court granted defendants' motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Plaintiff has appealed. We reverse.
The facts as alleged by plaintiff are summarized as follows. In May 1972 plaintiff, after receiving authority from the appropriate prison personnel, wrote two letters 'containing very confidential and embarrassing information about family problems' to his mother and father-in-law and his sister-in-law. The letters were not delivered as addressed but rather forwarded to the Chicago law firm of Downs, Haddix and Schwab along with a cover letter from a prison official directing the lawyers to do with them what they thought appropriate. About a month later, during an interview with a member of the law firm, plaintiff learned that his two letters had been misdirected. According to plaintiff the delay caused in the eventual delivery of the letters 'nullified any effect they may have had in preventing future trouble and deterioration of an already delicate family relationship.' In July 1972 plaintiff desired to send another letter to a Chicago attorney concerning a civil matter. This letter was returned after prison officials had misaddressed the same. After correspondence with various prison and elected officials about these instances, the present action was commenced.
Plaintiff contends that the district court erred in dismissing his complaint. Plaintiff's challenge is predicated upon his alleged deprivation of free expression, redress of grievances, access to counsel, and confidentiality of his correspondence caused by the prison officials' interference with and misdelivery of his outgoing mail and by his inability to be present during the inspection of his incoming 'legal mail.'
We must decide whether plaintiff has succeeded in alleging facts which, if proven, would entitle him to relief, taking into consideration the liberal construction which must be given to a prisoner's pro se complaint. We are convinced that plaintiff has alleged facts sufficient to withstand a motion to dismiss.
The district court in dismissing plaintiff's complaint observed that 'in order to be actionable under 1983, more than an isolated instance of failure to protect a prisoner's rights must be alleged.' While this might be true as a general proposition, we think it wholly inapplicable here. Plaintiff's complaint alleges more than an occasional mistake or single isolated incident regarding the mishandling of his mail. The allegations reflect that the acts complained of were a continuing form of harassment by prison officials. Plaintiff clearly states in his complaint that this '. . ....
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Dawson v. Kendrick
...contained in the correspondence may diminish an inmate's lawful access to the courts." Id. at 476. Of like effect are Bach v. Illinois, 504 F.2d 1100 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 418 U.S. 910, 94 S.Ct. 3202, 41 L.Ed.2d 1156 (1974), and Moore v. Ciccone, 459 F.2d 574 (8th Cir. 1972) (concurring......
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...352 F.2d 970 (8th Cir. 1965); or a situation of harassment by prison officials in relation to mail, as in Bach v. People of State of Illinois, 504 F.2d 1100 (7th Cir. 1974); or a situation of mail censorship, as in Wilkinson v. Skinner, 462 F.2d 670 (2nd Cir. 1972); or a situation where det......
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...placed an impermissible burden on the process of consultation between attorneys and their clients. In a later case, Bach v. Illinois, 7 Cir. 1974, 504 F.2d 1100, 1102, the Court held that an inmate is entitled to be present during the opening of his legal mail. The inspection of this mail o......
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