Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-91-04128/USCOURTS-ca10-91-04128-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U !\;cd Stat":'sCo~rtC!, p., n, 'fc:r.t'" r,---·11. 

TENTH CIRCUIT rEB o s i992 

ROBE~T L. HOECKEE 

Clerl: 

STEVEN V. SUMMERS, 

Plaintiff-Appellant, 

v. 

GARY W. DELAND, GERALD COOK, 

JOHN DOES 1-6, CAPTAIN TOM BONA 

and RICHARD FISCHER, 

Defendants-Appellees. 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) No. 91-4128 

) (D. Utah No. 88-C-0865-S) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before LOGAN, Circuit Judge, BARRETT, Senior Circuit Judge, and 

EBEL, Circuit Judge.t 

Appellant Summers appeals the district court's granting of 

summary judgment to the appellees on his claim arising under 42 

u.s.c. § 1983 . Because we conclude that the district court 

correctly granted summary judgment, we will affirm. 

The appellant was a prisoner in Utah State Prison when he 

originally filed his complaint; he has since been released. 

Although the appellant based his complaint on several grounds, the 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall not 

be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, except 

for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of the case, 

res judicata, or collateral estoppel . 10th Cir. R. 36.3. 

t After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P . 

34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. Therefore, the case is ordered 

submitted without oral argument. 

Appellate Case: 91-4128 Document: 010110222493 Date Filed: 02/06/1992 Page: 1 
only issue raised on appeal is that prison officials violated the 

appellant's civil rights by opening his privileged and 

nonprivileged mail. 

As noted by the district court, the opening of nonprivileged 

mail does not violate the prisoner's constitutional rights if 

necessary to protect any of several valid government interests. 

Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 413 (1973). The appellant 

also alleged in his complaint that one defendant opened a 

privileged letter. This defendant denied this allegation in a 

sworn affidavit. The appellant offered no evidence to challenge 

the affidavit. Therefore, for substantially the reasons 

articulated by the district court in its Memorandum Decision of 

July 1, 1991, summary judgment was appropriate. See Fed. R. Civ. 

P. 56(e). 

Finding no error in the district court's granting of summary 

judgment, we AFFIRM the district court. 1 The mandate shall issaue 

forthwith. 

1 

Entered for the Court 

David M. Ebel 

Circuit Judge 

We deny the appellees' request for attorney fees and costs. 

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Appellate Case: 91-4128 Document: 010110222493 Date Filed: 02/06/1992 Page: 2