Prison Legal News v. Lehman

• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
• Citation: 397 F.3d 692
• Docket Number: No. 04-35185.,No. 03-35608.,03-35608.,04-35185.
• Parties: PRISON LEGAL NEWS, a Washington corporation; Rollin A. Wright, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Joseph LEHMAN, in his official and individual capacities; Eldon Vail, in his official and individual capacities; Carol Porter, in her official and individual capacities; James Blodgett, Superintendent, in his official and individual capacities; Kay Walter, in her official and individual capacities; Alice Payne, in her official and individual capacities; Maggie Miller-Stout, in her official and individual capacities; Richard Morgan, in his official and individual capacities; Bob Moore, in his official and individual capacities; John Lambert, in his official and individual capacities; Doug Waddington, in his official and individual capacities; Belinda D. Stewart, in her official and individual capacities, Defendants-Appellants. Prison Legal News, a Washington corporation; Rollin A. Wright, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Joseph Lehman, in his official and individual capacities; Eldon Vail, in his official and individual capacities; Carol Porter, in her official and individual capacities; James Blodgett, Superintendent, in his official and individual capacities; Kay Walter, in her official and individual capacities; Alice Payne, in her official and individual capacities; Maggie Miller-Stout, in her official and individual capacities; Richard Morgan, in his official and individual capacities; Bob Moore, in his official and individual capacities; John Lambert, in his official and individual capacities; Doug Waddington, in his official and individual capacities; Belinda D. Stewart, in her official and individual capacities; Scott Frakes, in his official and individual capacities, Defendants-Appellees.
• Decision Date: 01 February 2005

397 F.3d 692 PRISON LEGAL NEWS, a Washington corporation; Rollin A. Wright, Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
Joseph LEHMAN, in his official and individual capacities; Eldon Vail, in his official and individual capacities; Carol Porter, in her official and individual capacities; James Blodgett, Superintendent, in his official and individual capacities; Kay Walter, in her official and individual capacities; Alice Payne, in her official and individual capacities; Maggie Miller-Stout, in her official and individual capacities; Richard Morgan, in his official and individual capacities; Bob Moore, in his official and individual capacities; John Lambert, in his official and individual capacities; Doug Waddington, in his official and individual capacities; Belinda D. Stewart, in her official and individual capacities, Defendants-Appellants.
Prison Legal News, a Washington corporation; Rollin A. Wright, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
Joseph Lehman, in his official and individual capacities; Eldon Vail, in his official and individual capacities; Carol Porter, in her official and individual capacities; James Blodgett, Superintendent, in his official and individual capacities; Kay Walter, in her official and individual capacities; Alice Payne, in her official and individual capacities; Maggie Miller-Stout, in her official and individual capacities;

Page 693

Richard Morgan, in his official and individual capacities; Bob Moore, in his official and individual capacities; John Lambert, in his official and individual capacities; Doug Waddington, in his official and individual capacities; Belinda D. Stewart, in her official and individual capacities; Scott Frakes, in his official and individual capacities, Defendants-Appellees. No. 03-35608. No. 04-35185. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted November 1, 2004. Filed February 1, 2005.

Page 694

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Page 695

Shannon Elizabeth Inglis and Carol A. Murphy, Office of the Washington Attorney General, Olympia, WA, for the defendants-appellants.

Jesse Andrew Wing, Timothy K. Ford, MacDonald, Hoague & Bayless, Seattle, WA, for the plaintiffs-appellees.

Joseph E. Bringman, Perkins Coie LLP, Seattle, WA, for amicus American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.

Steven R. Powers, Office of the Oregon Attorney General, Salem, OR, for the amicus.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; Robert S. Lasnik, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-01-01911-RSL.

Before: ALARCON, W. FLETCHER, and RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges.

ALARCÓN, Circuit Judge.

The Washington Department of Corrections ("DOC") appeals from the grant of summary judgment and permanent injunctive relief on Prison Legal News and Rollin A. Wright's (collectively "PLN") claim that the DOC prohibition against the receipt

Page 696

by inmates of non-subscription bulk mail and catalogs violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The thirteen individual defendants ("prison officials") appeal from the denial of their motion for summary judgment based on their defense of qualified immunity from damages as a result of restricting inmates from receiving third-party legal materials.

PLN has filed a cross-appeal from the order granting summary judgment to the thirteen individuals based on their defense of qualified immunity regarding PLN's claim that the defendants violated its constitutional rights.

We affirm the district court's decision. Under the test laid out in Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89-90, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987), the DOC's ban on non-subscription bulk mail and catalogs is not rationally related to a legitimate penological interest and is therefore unconstitutional. Although the ban violates PLN's First Amendment rights, the prison officials are entitled to qualified immunity because their actions did not violate clearly established law. We also hold that the district court did not err by declining to grant qualified immunity to the officials for their policies regarding third-party legal materials. If the evidence produced at trial demonstrates that the DOC applied its policy in a discriminatory fashion based on the content of the legal materials as PLN contends, the prison officials are not entitled to qualified immunity because they violated clearly established law. The district court correctly concluded that this disputed factual question must be resolved at trial.

I

Prison Legal News is a Washington nonprofit corporation that publishes and distributes publications regarding legal issues of interest to inmates, such as prisoners' rights. It publishes a monthly subscription magazine, which has 3,000 subscribers across the United States, including 120 who are inmates in Washington's state correctional facilities. Its editor, Paul Wright, is an inmate in a Washington state correctional facility.

The prison officials are policymaking employees in the DOC. The DOC operates fifteen Washington correctional institutions that house 16,000 inmates. The DOC employs approximately one mailroom staff person per 600 persons served at each institution, including inmates and staff.

This is the fourth case since 1996 brought by PLN against the DOC. The previous cases are Miniken v. Walter, 978 F.Supp. 1356 (E.D.Wash.1997), MacFarlane v. Walter, No. 96-cv-03102-LRS (E.D.Wash.1997), and Humanists of Washington v. Lehman, No. 97-cv-05499-FDB-JKA (W.D.Wash.1999).

The DOC's Policy Directive 450.100, entitled "Mail for Offenders," sets forth rules and procedures regarding mail delivery to inmates. The district court summarized the portions relevant to this appeal:

First, the directive prohibits inmates from receiving "bulk mail" unless that bulk mail is a subscription publication. In contrast to first and second class mail rejected due to prohibited content, "[n]o rejection notice is required for bulk mail that is not a subscription publication." Additionally, inmates are not permitted to receive catalogs by mail, whether sent first class, second class, or at a "bulk mail" rate. If mail other than that constituting bulk mail is rejected for delivery, inmates receive notice of the rejection and may appeal the decision.

Prison Legal News v. Lehman, 272 F.Supp.2d 1151, 1154 (W.D.Wash.2003) (alterations in original) (citations omitted) ("PLN II"). The court further explained,

Page 697

"The Department defines bulk mail as [m]ail which is clearly marked non-profit or bulk rate. This type of mail is also referred to as bulk business mail or advertising mail and includes, but is not limited to, catalogs and circulars." Id. at n. 2 (alterations in original) (citations and quotations omitted). "The Department defines `catalog' as `[a] publication which is predominantly or substantially focused on offering items for sale.'" Id. at n. 3 (alterations in original) (citations omitted). The court also explained the DOC's policy regarding third-party legal material:

DOC 450.100 prohibits the delivery of "[m]ail containing information which, if communicated, could create a risk of violence and/or physical harm to any person...."

Third-party legal materials-Must meet the following requirements

a. Mail which consists of judicial opinions (published and unpublished), reports and recommendations, orders, complaints or answers, settlement agreements, class action notices, legal briefs and memoranda, and motions, and

b. Mail which otherwise complies with DOC Policy 450.100 Mail for Offenders and has been stamped "approved third-party legal materials" by correctional staff.

Id. at 1161 (citations omitted).

PLN sued the DOC under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, arguing that these regulations violated its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The district court held that the DOC's policies regarding non subscription bulk mail and catalogs violated PLN's First Amendment rights, id. at 1159, but that the officials were entitled to qualified immunity for their decisions. Id. at 1163. The district court further concluded that summary judgment was not appropriate for the claim regarding third-party legal material, because "resolution of these issues requires highly fact-dependent inquiries that ... are not amenable to summary determination." Id. at 1162. Furthermore, the district court limited its finding of qualified immunity to the issues resolved on summary judgment, and expressed no opinion regarding whether the officials will be entitled to qualified immunity if PLN should ultimately prevail on its claim regarding third-party legal materials. Id. at 1163 n. 14.

II

The district court had jurisdiction under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. We have jurisdiction to review the district court's decision to grant summary judgment for PLN and its decision to grant qualified immunity to defendants regarding PLN's claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We have jurisdiction to review the grant of permanent injunctive relief to PLN relating to catalogs and non-subscription bulk mail and notice under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1).

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 over an interlocutory appeal regarding the issue of qualified immunity. Wilkins v. City of Oakland, 350 F.3d 949, 951 (9th Cir.2003) (citing Jeffers v. Gomez, 267 F.3d 895, 903 (9th Cir.2001) (per curiam); Schwenk v. Hartford, 204 F.3d 1187, 1195 (9th Cir.2000)). "In such circumstances, however, appellate review is generally limited to issues of law, and `does not extend to claims in which the determination of qualified immunity depends on disputed issues of material fact.'" Wilkins, 350 F.3d at 951 (quoting Jeffers, 267 F.3d at 903) (internal citation omitted). "Where disputed facts exist, we will determine if the denial of qualified immunity was proper by assuming that the version of events offered by the nonmoving party is correct." Id.

Page 698

The parties dispute whether we have jurisdiction over the officials' assertion that the district court improperly denied qualified immunity from the claim relating to third-party...