United States v. Taylor
| Decision Date | 29 September 1967 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 43055. |
| Citation | 274 F. Supp. 42 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America ex rel. Charles OAKES v. Kenneth TAYLOR et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Melvin Dildine, Asst. Voluntary Defender, Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiff.
Welsh S. White, Asst. Dist. Atty., Philadelphia, Pa., for defendants.
Plaintiff is an inmate at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. He is a native of Salt Lake City, Utah and is a member of the Mormon faith. His request to receive the Deseret News, a Salt Lake City newspaper, published by the Mormon Church has been rejected by the prison authorities under a prisoner mail regulation which states in part: "You may not subscribe to or receive any out of state newspapers."
Plaintiff seeks a permanent injunction against defendants enjoining them from enforcing the above-mentioned regulation as it applies to bar plaintiff and others similarly situated from receiving out of state newspapers.
At first blush, this case might seem to raise a question of abridgment of religious freedom by the prison authorities. However, it developed at a hearing on September 26, 1967 that (1) the Deseret News publishes a "Church News" supplement which is obtainable separate and apart from the general newspaper, and (2) that this religious supplement could be received by plaintiff under the prison policy which permits the inmates to receive religious publications even though they may come from an out of state source. Thus the "freedom of religion" question is moot here.
The only issue therefore presented is whether the prison regulation barring inmates from receiving out of state newspapers is unconstitutional.
It is well established that prison authorities have a wide range of discretion in the promulgation and enforcement of rules to govern the prison community in order to maintain order, discipline and security therein. United States ex rel. Wagner v. Ragen, 213 F.2d 294 (7th Cir. 1954), cert. denied 348 U.S. 846, 75 S.Ct. 68, 99 L.Ed. 667 (1954). Generally, the federal courts will not interfere with the internal administration of state prisons except in those extreme instances of institutional treatment of "such character or consequences as to shock general conscience or to be intolerable in fundamental fairness." Lee v. Tahash, 352 F.2d 970, 972 (8th Cir. 1965).
Unless the regulation in question here is so unreasonable as to fit into this extreme exception it must...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Crowder v. Lash
...may keep in their cells and to prohibit prisoners from receiving or purchasing books from other inmates) and U.S. ex rel. Oakes v. Taylor, 274 F.Supp. 42 (E.D.Pa.1967) (prison regulation barring inmates from receiving out of state newspaper is reasonable restriction relating to prison order......
-
Seale v. Manson, Civ. No. 14077.
...337 F.2d 72, 74 (4 Cir. 1964); Brown v. State of South Carolina, 286 F.Supp. 998, 1001 (D.S.C. 1968); United States ex rel. Oakes v. Taylor, 274 F.Supp. 42, 43 (E.D.Pa. 1967); United States ex rel. Henson v. Myers, 244 F.Supp. 826, 827 (E.D.Pa. 1965). Courts lack the vast experience of pris......
-
Gray v. Creamer, Civ. A. No. 71-445.
...have this right and that it enables them to maintain necessary control over the operation of their prisons. United States ex rel. Oakes v. Taylor, 274 F. Supp. 42 (E.D.Pa.1967) and In the Matter of Leamer, 322 F.Supp. 578 (W.D. Pa.1971). See also Sostre, supra, where it is held that prison ......