### IN THE UNI TED STAT ES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIF TH CIRCU IT

N o

. 1 0

- 5 0 6 2 9

S u m m a r y C a l e n d a r

L E E S C O T T C L E M O N S

,

P l a i n t i f f

- A p p e l l a n t

v

.

C A R O L E

. M O N R O E

, A s s i s t a n t W a r d e n , J o h n B

. C o n n a l l y U n i t ; T E R E S A G

. B A T E S

, M a i l r o o m S u p e r v i s o r , J o h n B

. C o n n a l l y U n i t ; J E N N I F E R S M I T H

, P r o g r a m S p e c i a l i s t

, H u n t s v i l l e G r i e v a n c e D e p a r t m e n t ; J O H N D O E # 1

, k n o w n

a s 1 0 6 N 4 t o P l a i n t i f f

, S t e p 2 G r i e v a n c e I n v e s t i g a t o r , H u n t s v i l l e G r i e v a n c e D e p a r t m e n t ; V A N E S S A C

. O C A N A S

, C l e r k I I

, J o h n B

. C o n n a l l y U n i t ; C A R M E N

M

. R I V A S

, C l e r k I I

, J o h n B

. C o n n a l l y U n i t ; M I C H E L L E E

. S M A R T

, C l e r k I I

, J o h n B

. C o n n a l l y U n i t ; D E B B I E D

. S T R A I T

, A d m i n i s t r a t i v e A s s i s t a n t I

, J o h n B

. C o n n a l l y U n i t

,

D e f e n d a n t s

- A p p e l l e e s

A p p e a l f

r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t

f o r t h e W e s t e r n D i s t r i c t o f T e x a s U S D C N o

. 5 : 1 0

- C V

- 2 9 0

B e f o r e G A R W O O D

, D A V I S a n d O W E N

, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

.

P E R C U R I A M : *

L e e S c o t t C l e m o n s , T e x a s p r i s o n e r # 1 4 8 0 5 0 1

, a p p e a l s t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s

d i s m i s s a l o f h i s p r o s e 4 2 U

. S

. C

. § 1 9 8 3 c i v i l r i g h t s c o m p l a i n t a s f r i v o l o u s a n d f

o r

f a i l u r e t o s t a t e a c l a i m f o r r e l i e f p u r s u a n t t o 2 8 U

. S

. C

. § 1 9 1 5 A ( b ) ( 1 ) a n d ( 2 )

. U n i te d S ta te s C o u rt o f A p p ea l s

F i ft h C i rc u i t 

### F I L E D
April 18 , 20 11

Lyle W . Cayce
Clerk

Pur sua nt to 5 T H C I R

. R. 47.5

, the cou rt has det er m ine d tha t thi s opi nio n sho uld not be publ is hed and *

is not pr ece den t e xce pt unde r t he l imite d ci rc um st anc es set fo rt h i n 5 T H C I R

. R. 47.5 .4. Case: 10-50629 Document: 00511449345 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/18/2011C l e m o n s a l l e g e d t h a t p r i s o n o f f i c i a l s a t t h e J o h n B

. C o n n a l l y U n i t i n K e n e d y ,

T e x a s , w h e r e h e i s c u r r e n t l y i n c a r c e r a t e d

, v i o l a t e d h i s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l r i g h t t o

a c c e s s t o t h e c o u r t s b y c o n f i s c a t i n g p h o t o g r a p h s t h a t w e r e i n c l u d e d i n t h e t r i a l

r e c o r d

, w h i c h h a d b e e n m a i l e d t o h i m b y h i s a t t o r n e y , o n t h e g r o u n d s t h a t t h e

p h o t o g r a p h s w e r e s e x u a l l y e x p l i c i t

. H e a l s o a l l e g e d t h a t s o m e o f t h e d e f e n d a n t s

f a i l e d t o a d e q u a t e l y r e s o l v e h i s c o m p l a i n t s r e g a r d i n g t h e i n c i d e n t

.

A p r i s o n e r ’ s c i v i l r i g h t s c o m p l a i n t m a y b e d i s m i s s e d a t a n y t i m e i f i t i s

f r i v o l o u s o r f a i l s t o s t a t e a c l a i m o n w h i c h r e l i e f c a n b e g r a n t e d

. S e e 2 8 U

. S

. C

. § 1 9 1 5 ( e ) ( 2 ) ( B ) ; § 1 9 1 5 A ; 4 2 U

. S

. C

. § 1 9 9 7 e ( c ) ( 1 )

. B e c a u s e t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t

d i s m i s s e d t h e c o m p l a i n t b o t h a s f r i v o l o u s a n d f

o r f a i l u r e t o s t a t e a c l a i m , t h e

d i s m i s s a l i s r e v i e w e d d e n o v o

. S e e G e i g e r v

. Jo w e r s , 4 0 4 F

. 3 d 3 7 1

, 3 7 3 ( 5 t h C i r

.

2 0 0 5 )

. 1

C l e m o n s c o n t e n d s t h a t t h e c e n s o r s h i p o f h i s c l e a r l y m a r k e d l e g a l m a i l

o u t s i d e o f h i s p r e s e n c e v i o l a t e d h i s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l r i g h t o f a c c e s s t o t h e c o u r t s

a n d t h a t t h e d e f e n d a n t s w e r e n o t e n t i t l e d t o q u a l i f i e d i m m u n i t y b e c a u s e t h e i r

a c t i o n s w e r e o u t s i d e t h e s c o p e o f t h e i r d u t i e s u n d e r T e x a s D e p a r t m e n t o f

C r i m i n a l J u s t i c e ( T D C J ) p o l i c i e s

. H e f u r t h e r c o n t e n d s t h a t t h e p h o t o g r a p h s

T he m agist ra te j udge on Apri l 27, 2010

, sua spo nte ord er ed tha t the complai nt fa il ed to st at e a cl ai m 1

and was fr ivolo us on the grounds

, int er ali a , her ei n not ed, and woul d be dis m is sed if Cle m ons did not wit hin

21 days fi le an amended complai nt cur ing the def ic ie nci es. On Ma y 17, 2010

, Cle m ons m ai le d for fi li ng his

“M emorand um of Law in Supp ort of the Pla int if f’ s Com pla int .” On J une 2, 2010

, the dis tr ic t j udge ent er ed

an ord er dis m is si ng the complai nt wit h pre j udi ce, genera ll y for the same re aso ns as st at ed in the m agist ra te j udge’s Apri l 27 ord er

. On J une 2

, 2010

, the dis tr ic t j udge ent er ed j udgm ent dis m is si ng the cau se wit h

pre j udi ce as fr ivolo us and for fa il ure to st at e a cl ai m and bec aus e m one ta ry re li ef was sou ght fr om imm une def end ant s. On J une 4, 2010, the Cle rk’s Off ic e r ece ived a nd f

il ed p la int if

f’ s “ Am end m ent /Su ppl emental Resp ons e to Orde r to Show Caus e,” whic h did not see k to amend the ori ginal complai nt or add to it fa ct ual

al le gatio ns, but m er el y ar gued tha t the ori ginal complai nt le gally suf fi ced to st at e a cl ai m

. On J une 25, 2010

, pla int if f mail ed f or fi li ng his Rul e 59 (e ) “ Mo ti on T o Alt er Or Am end J udgm ent ,” whic h m oti on was fi le d

J une 30, 2010 . Li kewise on J une 25, 2010 , pl ai nti ff m ai le d f or fi li ng his not ic e of appea l “fr om the Orde r of Dismiss al fi le d in the cour t on Ju ne 2, 2010,” suc h noti ce of app eal bei ng fi le d J une 30, 2010

. By ord er si gned and ent er ed J uly 12, 2010

, the dis tr ic t c o u rt den ie d the sai d Mo ti on T o Alt er Or Am end T he

J udgm ent . Pl ai nti ff

has not fi le d a not ic e of

app eal fr om

th e J uly 12, 2010 or der

.

2 Case: 10-50629 Document: 00511449345 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/18/2011t h e m s e l v e s w e r e n o t p o r n o g r a p h i c b u t w e r e c l o s e u p s o f t h e a l l e g e d i n j u r i e s t o

t h e m i n o r v i c t i m ’ s g e n i t a l i a , w h i c h w o u l d n o t r e s u l t i n h i s s e x u a l g r a t i f i c a t i o n ,

a n d t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t s h o u l d n o t h a v e a c c e p t e d t h e T D C J ’ s f i n d i n g t h a t t h e

p h o t o g r a p h s w e r e s e x u a l l y e x p l i c i t w i t h o u t f i r s t v i e w i n g t h e p h o t o g r a p h s

.

S e x u a l l y e x p l i c i t m a t e r i a l

, t h o u g h n o t l e g a l l y o b s c e n e , m a y c o n s t i t u t e

c o n t r a b a n d i n t h e p r i s o n c o n t e x t

. S e e T h o m p s o n v

. P a t t e s o n , 9 8 5 F

. 2 d 2 0 2

, 2 0 5

-

0 6 ( 5 t h C i r

. 1 9 9 3 )

.

T h e o p e n i n g o f i n c o m i n g l e g a l m a i l o u t s i d e a n i n m a t e ’ s p r e s e n c e f o r t h e

p u r p o s e o f i n s p e c t i n g f o r c o n t r a b a n d d o e s n o t v i o l a t e a p r i s o n e r ’ s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l

r i g h t s

. B r e w e r v

. W i l k i n s o n , 3 F

. 3 d 8 1 6

, 8 2 5 ( 5 t h C i r

. 1 9 9 3 )

. T h u s , i n s o f a r a s

C l e m o n s a s s e r t s t h a t h i s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l r i g h t s w e r e v i o l a t e d w h e n t h e m a i l

c l e r k s o p e n e d a n d i n s p e c t e d h i s l e g a l m a i l o u t s i d e o f h i s p r e s e n c e , t h i s a s s e r t i o n ,

a l o n e , i s i n s u f

f i c i e n t t o s t a t e a c l a i m f o r r e l i e f

, a s t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t c o n c l u d e d

.

F u r t h e r , a l t h o u g h i n t e r f e r e n c e w i t h p r i s o n m a i l t h a t p r e v e n t s a n i n m a t e

f r o m “ p r e p a r [ i n g ] a n d t r a n s m i t [ t i n g ] a n e c e s s a r y l e g a l d o c u m e n t t o a c o u r t ” d o e s

v i o l a t e a n i n m a t e ’ s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l l y p r o t e c t e d r i g h t o f a c c e s s t o t h e c o u r t s , s e e i d

.

a t 8 2 5

- 2 6

, C l e m o n s h a s f a i l e d t o d e m o n s t r a t e a n a c t u a l l e g a l i n j u r y s t e m m i n g

f r o m t h e d e f e n d a n t s ’ u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c o n d u c t

, t h a t i s , h e h a s f a i l e d t o

d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t h e w a s p r e v e n t e d f r o m r a i s i n g a m e r i t o r i o u s l e g a l i s s u e

. S e e

L e w i s v

. C a s e y , 5 1 8 U

. S

. 3 4 3

, 3 5 1

- 5 2

, 1 1 6 S

. C t

. 2 1 7 4

, 2 1 8 0

- 8 1 ( 1 9 9 6 )

.

C l e m o n s h a s f a i l e d t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t e r r e d i n

d i s m i s s i n g h i s c i v i l r i g h t s c o m p l a i n t p u r s u a n t t o § 1 9 1 5 A ( b ) ( 1 )

. A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e

j u d g m e n t o f t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t i s A F F I R M E D

.

3 Case: 10-50629 Document: 00511449345 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/18/2011