Conway v. Oliver
| Decision Date | 18 September 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 23714.,23714. |
| Citation | 429 F.2d 1307 |
| Parties | James CONWAY, Appellant, v. A. L. OLIVER et al., Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
James Conway (pro. per.) appellant.
A. Wells Petersen, Deputy Atty. Gen., Sacramento, Cal., for appellees.
Before KOELSCH and TRASK, Circuit Judges, and BYRNE,* District Judge.
This California state prisoner, James Conway, appeals from the dismissal by the District Court for the Eastern District of California of his action seeking damages under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983 and 1985(3). He specifically alleges that the appellees, prison officials, conspired to separate him from his legal papers for some thirty days and caused him to be transferred from San Quentin to Folsom Prison. He claims that all of this denied him access to the courts. The legal papers were in his cell contained in a manila envelope which also contained "two stabbing instruments."
The district court granted Conway's motion to proceed in forma pauperis, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). Summons was served on defendants who moved to dismiss upon the grounds that the complaint failed to state a cause of action upon which relief could be granted, and that the action was "frivolous" and "malicious." 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d).
The plaintiff is entitled to reasonable access to the courts and deprivation of that right is actionable. Stiltner v. Rhay, 322 F.2d 314 (9th Cir. 1963), cert. denied, 376 U.S. 920, 84 S.Ct. 678, 11 L.Ed.2d 615 (1964). It has also been held in another analogous case that the district court may consider its own records for the purpose of determining whether an action brought in forma pauperis must be dismissed, despite the papers being regular on their face, because the action is in fact frivolous or malicious. Williams v. Field, 394 F.2d 329, 331-332 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 891, 89 S.Ct. 213, 21 L.Ed.2d 171 (1968).
The district court did examine its records and found:
"1) During, and immediately subsequent to, the time plaintiff alleges he was deprived of reasonable access to the courts the District Court of Appeals for the First District of California received one brief and two written motions from plaintiff; 2) During the time plaintiff alleges that he was deprived of reasonable access to the courts the Supreme Court of the United States received a petition for a writ of habeas corpus as well as a 70 page, well documented, petition for writ of...
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Franklin v. State of Or.
...see if the action is frivolous. See, e.g., Allison v. Wilson, 434 F.2d 646, 647-48 (9th Cir.1970) (per curiam); Conway v. Oliver, 429 F.2d 1307, 1308 (9th Cir.1970) (per curiam); Williams v. Field, 394 F.2d 329, 331-32 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 891, 89 S.Ct. 213, 21 L.Ed.2d 171 Thi......
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Carter v. Telectron, Inc.
...e. g., Daye v. Bounds, 509 F.2d 66, 68 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 1002, 95 S.Ct. 2404, 44 L.Ed.2d 671 (1975); Conway v. Oliver, 429 F.2d 1307, 1308 (9th Cir. 1970); Willard v. United States, 422 F.2d 810, 811 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 398 U.S. 913, 90 S.Ct. 1714, 26 L.Ed.2d 76 (1970......
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Anderson v. Coughlin
...518 F.2d 366, 368 (8th Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 896, 96 S.Ct. 198, 46 L.Ed.2d 129 (1975); Conway v. Oliver, 429 F.2d 1307, 1308 (9th Cir.1970) (per curiam); Williams v. Field, 394 F.2d at 332; United States of America ex rel. Masucci v. Follette, 272 F.Supp. 563, 565 (S.D.......
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Vaughn v. Trotter
...although a complete denial of court access, should it ever come to light, would be even more egregious. Compare Conway v. Oliver, 429 F.2d 1307, 1308 (9th Cir. 1970). 19 For example, affidavits in the record relate that inmates walking from the ball field were seized and strip searched alon......