1 In 1987, Starr was convicted in state court of seconddegree murder and sentenced to a term of twenty-eight years to

life imprisonment. Since then, he has been one of this court’s

more frequent litigants, filing numerous civil actions

challenging a wide array of the conditions of his confinement. 

Among other things, Starr has claimed that prison officials

wrongfully deprived him of a marriage licence by refusing to

drive him to the local town clerk’s office, thereby preventing

him from marrying his girlfriend (Civ. no. 04-cv-02); that prison

officials violated his constitutional rights when personal

property was damaged during a search of his cell (Civ. no. 05-cv264); that a prison mail regulation prohibiting inmates from

receiving publications containing photographs of nude female

models depicted in lesbian love scenes violates his First

Amendment rights (Civ. no. 97-cv-72); and, although he is not a

Taoist, that his statutory and constitutional rights were

violated when prison officials restricted the practice of certain

aspects of Tai Chi - a form of martial arts (Civ. no. 05-cv-368). 

To be fair, none of Starr’s complaints has been dismissed as

patently frivolous, and each is thoroughly researched,

articulately stated, and well plead. Yet, to date, it does not

appear that Starr has prevailed on any of his federal claims. 

Nevertheless, he remains undaunted. 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Darren Starr,

Plaintiff

v. Civil No. 06-cv-487-SM

Opinion No. 2009 DNH 004

Timothy Coulombe, et al.,

Defendants

O R D E R

Plaintiff, Darren Starr, is an inmate at the Northern New

Hampshire Correction Facility (“NCF”) and, although acting pro

se, he is an experienced litigant in this court.1 

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 1 of 23
2

In his latest suit, Starr again seeks compensatory and

punitive damages, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief,

for alleged violations of his constitutionally protected rights. 

Specifically, Starr claims that various employees of the New

Hampshire Department of Corrections violated his First and

Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intercepted, and

subsequently destroyed, several pages of printed statutory

materials that had been mailed to him by one of his friends. 

And, he goes on to say that defendants then deprived him of

certain procedural protections when he lodged various grievances

concerning the decision not to deliver those materials to him in

the prison. 

Defendants move for summary judgment as to all three claims

advanced in Starr’s complaint. Starr objects and, in turn, moves

for summary judgment as to his due process and retaliation

claims. 

Standard of Review

When ruling on a party’s motion for summary judgment, the

court must “view the entire record in the light most hospitable

to the party opposing summary judgment, indulging all reasonable

inferences in that party’s favor.” Griggs-Ryan v. Smith, 904

F.2d 112, 115 (1st Cir. 1990). Summary judgment is appropriate

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 2 of 23
3

when the record reveals “no genuine issue as to any material fact

and . . . the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter

of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). In this context, “a fact is

‘material’ if it potentially affects the outcome of the suit and

a dispute over it is ‘genuine’ if the parties’ positions on the

issue are supported by conflicting evidence.” Int’l Ass’n of

Machinists & Aerospace Workers v. Winship Green Nursing Ctr., 103

F.3d 196, 199-200 (1st Cir. 1996) (citations omitted). 

Nevertheless, if the non-moving party’s “evidence is merely

colorable, or is not significantly probative,” no genuine dispute

as to a material fact has been proved, and “summary judgment may

be granted.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249-

50 (1986) (citations omitted). The key, then, to defeating a

properly supported motion for summary judgment is the nonmovant’s ability to support his or her claims concerning disputed

material facts with evidence that conflicts with that proffered

by the moving party. See generally Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e). It

naturally follows that while a reviewing court must take into

account all properly documented facts, it may ignore bald

assertions, unsupported conclusions, and mere speculation. See

Serapion v. Martinez, 119 F.3d 982, 987 (1st Cir. 1997). 

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 3 of 23
4

Background

Based upon the record before the court, the undisputed

material facts appear to be as follows. On November 18, 2003,

and again at some point in December of 2003, Starr had difficulty

accessing certain New Hampshire statutes and administrative

regulations using the prison’s computers. Specifically, Starr

sought “complete copies . . . of RSA 21-H, RSA 622, and the

Nursing Board Rules.” Complaint, Exhibit 6-d, at para. 4. 

Frustrated by his inability to obtain those documents using the

resources available to him at the prison, Starr contacted a nonprisoner friend and asked that she use her own computer to access

the materials in question, print out copies, and mail them to

Starr. She complied and the materials arrived at the prison, in

a single envelope, on or around December 23, 2003 (the “printed

materials”). 

Pursuant to prison regulations, the materials were held

until a meeting of the Literary Review Committee (the “LRC”)

could convene and determine whether or not the printed materials

could be forwarded to Starr. That committee met on February 19,

2004, and rejected the materials as being too voluminous and in

violation of the prison’s “Publisher’s Only Rule.” That same

day, Starr was informed of the committee’s decision and told,

“You have ten (10) days from the above date to appeal to the

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 4 of 23
5

Warden. If you do not appeal, the above publication will be

returned to the sender at your expense.” Complaint, Exhibit 3,

Notice of Rejected Material. See generally N.H. Dept. of

Corrections Policy and Procedure Directive (“PPD”) 5.26 IV D (the

“Publisher’s Only Rule,” which provides that commercially

published materials may be sent to inmates only by the publisher

and states that “items that have been re-packed or delivered by

other sources will not be accepted) and PPD 5.26 N (providing

inmates with ten days within which to appeal adverse decisions

issued by the committee). 

Attached to that notification was a “5 Day Notice” from the

prison’s mail room. That document notified Starr that, because

the printed materials had been rejected by the LRC, he had

“excess/unauthorized mail/property that needs to be removed from

the N.H. State Prison.” Complaint, Exhibit 4. See generally PPD

9.2 IV (governing inmate property and providing that

“unauthorized property must be removed within five (5) business

days of intake/reception, otherwise it will be disposed of by the

State”). In accordance with PPD 9.2, Starr was notified that he

had five business days from the date of the notice within which

to either remove the materials or file an appeal. Starr was also

informed that if he failed to do so, the property would be

destroyed. Plainly, the notices given to Starr - one of which

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 5 of 23
6

gave him ten days to appeal the rejection of his mail, and the

other which afforded him only five business days to appeal the

proposed destruction of that material - were confusing. (The

printed materials probably did not qualify as

“excess/unauthorized property” subject to destruction until the

appeal period expired without Starr having filed an appeal or, if

one was filed, until it was finally resolved.) 

As to the printed materials themselves, the parties dispute

the actual number of pages sent to Starr. Those materials have

been destroyed and there is apparently no record of precisely how

many pages were included in the mailing. Starr says that, after

the events in question, he was able to use the prison’s computers

to successfully print out “the specific sections” of the statute

and regulations he sought “and they total only 38 pages.” 

Plaintiff’s memorandum (document no. 20-2) at 2. Defendants, on

the other hand, represent that they have printed out those

materials and say they comprise 132 pages. The discrepancy, say

defendants, is because Starr printed only excerpts of the

statutory or regulatory materials, rather than the ”complete

printouts of RSA 21-H, RSA 622, and the Nursing Board Rules,”

Complaint, Exhibit 6-d, at para. 4., as he had originally

requested. Defendants’ reply memorandum (document no. 24) at 2. 

Construing the record in the light most favorable to Starr, the

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 6 of 23
2 Neither Starr nor the State has pointed the court to a

controlling definition of the phrase “business days,” as used in

the PPDs. Accordingly, the court assumes that phrase has its

customary meaning - that is, days other than weekends and federal

holidays — and that traditional counting rules apply as well. 

Under that definition of the phrase, and assuming Starr actually

deposited his initial IRS in the appropriate box on February 26,

2004, it was filed in a timely manner. That is to say, it was

filed within five business days of the notice informing him that

his mail had been rejected and would be destroyed as excess/

unauthorized property if he did not make arrangements for its

removal. 

But, as defendants point out, Starr’s initial IRS

challenged the rejection of his mail. It did not specifically

challenge (or even mention) the prison’s plan to destroy that

material if Starr did not appeal. See Complaint, Exhibit 5. 

Consequently, defendants say they were entirely correct to rule

that Starr did not timely appeal the decision to destroy the

materials. And, it follows that defendants believe the

subsequent destruction of that material was completely

appropriate. Again, however, the material was probably not

“excess” until the rejection was final, which it was not. To

7

court will assume that the mailing directed to Starr was

comprised of thirty-eight pages of Internet printouts. 

Starr says (and defendants do not dispute) that, on February

26, 2004, he deposited into the E-Pod request slip box an inmate

request slip (“IRS”) appealing the rejection of the printed

materials. The IRS was not received by prison authorities until

March 1, 2004, by which time Starr’s materials had already been

destroyed. On March 10, 2004, Warden Bruce Cattell responded to

Starr’s IRS, informing him that the materials had been destroyed,

and stating (probably in error) that Starr had failed to file a

timely appeal.2 

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 7 of 23
avoid future problems, the prison ought to consider clarifying

the apparent inconsistencies in its policies.

8

Two weeks later, on March 24, Starr filed a separate IRS,

complaining about the destruction of the materials. Unit Manager

Robert Thyng responded, again, arguably in error, that Starr had

failed to file a timely appeal of the decision to reject his

printed materials as violative of the Publisher’s Only Rule and

to destroy them as unauthorized materials. Starr filed a secondlevel grievance to the warden, who also responded that the

materials were destroyed because Starr failed to file an appeal

within the required five-day period. Starr’s third-level appeal

to the Commissioner was denied on the same grounds. This

litigation ensued. 

Discussion

In his complaint, Starr advances three claims: first, that

defendants violated his First Amendment rights by refusing to

allow him to receive copies of N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. (“RSA”) ch.

622 and ch. 21-H, which a friend printed off the Internet and

mailed to him (count one); next, that defendants violated his

Fourteenth Amendment right to due process by failing to provide

the review required by Department of Corrections policy prior to

rejecting his mail (count two); and, finally, that defendant

Coulombe violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 8 of 23
3 As the court reads Starr’s complaint, it is difficult

to see how count three actually alleges a retaliation claim. 

While Starr complains about defendant Coulombe’s decision to

issue the five-day notice (regarding proposed destruction of the

materials at issue), he does not allege that Coulombe was acting

in retaliation for any conduct in which Starr had engaged. In

fact, Starr repeatedly says it was Coulombe’s routine practice to

issue the five-day notice whenever any inmate’s mail was

rejected. See, e.g., Complaint at para. 44 (“The Plaintiff

asserts that Coulombe’s unauthorized issuance of the 5-day notice

was not an isolated incident, but was rather routine action when

any mail was rejected by the LRC.”). 

9

by “inhibiting his appeal of the rejection of his mail,”

Complaint at para. 14 (count three). The magistrate judge

charitably construed Starr’s third count as asserting a claim

that “the seizure and destruction of his mail, and the denial of

due process that followed, constituted unconstitutional

retaliation for the exercise of his First Amendment rights.” 

Order (document no. 4) at 24. Starr has embraced that generous

construction of his complaint and, although he has not sought to

amend his complaint to specifically state a retaliation claim, he

has implicitly attempted to do so. See Plaintiff’s memorandum

(document no. 20-2) at 14. Because the magistrate judge

construed the complaint to allege a retaliation claim, the court

will treat the complaint as though it actually advances such a

claim.3

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 9 of 23
10

I. Count One - First Amendment. 

As noted above, the prison refused to deliver the statutory

and regulatory materials that were printed off the Internet and

mailed to Starr because the Literary Review Committee concluded

that those materials were too voluminous and violated the

Publisher’s Only Rule. See PPD 5.26. And, soon after those

materials were rejected, they were destroyed as excess,

unauthorized property. See PPD 9.2. Starr claims those actions

violated his First Amendment rights. The court disagrees. 

When a correctional facility’s regulations interfere with an

inmate’s constitutionally protected rights, such regulations are

valid only if they are “reasonably related to legitimate

penological interests.” Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89

(1987). To assist lower courts in determining whether a

challenged regulation passes constitutional scrutiny, the Supreme

Court identified four factors that should be considered: 

1. whether there is a logical, valid connection

between the regulation and the penological

goal(s) sought to be advanced by that

regulation - a connection that is not so

remote as to render the policy arbitrary or

irrational; 

2. whether there are alternate means by which

the inmate might exercise the asserted

constitutional right - means that remain open

to him despite his incarceration; 

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 10 of 23
11

3. whether the accommodation requested by the

inmate so that he might exercise the asserted

constitutional right would have an adverse

effect on guards, other inmates, and/or the

allocation of prison resources; and, finally, 

4. whether there are any obvious, easy alternate

means by which the prison might accommodate

the inmate’s exercise of the asserted right. 

See Id. at 89-92. See also Shaw v. Murphy, 532 U.S. 223, 229-30

(2001). Importantly, however, the Supreme Court urged lower

courts to exercise restraint and give appropriate deference to

the expert judgments of prison administrators. 

Running a prison is an inordinately difficult

undertaking that requires expertise, planning, and the

commitment of resources, all of which are peculiarly

within the province of the legislative and executive

branches of government. Prison administration is,

moreover, a task that has been committed to the

responsibility of those branches, and separation of

powers concerns counsel a policy of judicial restraint. 

Where a state penal system is involved, federal courts

have . . . additional reason to accord deference to the

appropriate prison authorities. 

Turner, 482 U.S. at 84-85. See also Beard v. Banks, 548 U.S.

521, 536-37 (2006) (Thomas, J., concurring) (“Judicial scrutiny

of prison regulations is an endeavor fraught with peril. Just

last Term, this Court invalidated California’s policy of racially

segregating prisoners in its reception centers, notwithstanding

that State’s warning that its policy was necessary to prevent

prison violence. California subsequently experienced several

instances of severe race-based prison violence, including a riot

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 11 of 23
4 Starr does not challenges the Publisher’s Only Rule on

its face. Instead, he claims that it was applied to him in an

unconstitutional manner. See Complaint at para. 32. 

12

that resulted in 2 fatalities and more than 100 injuries, and

significant fighting along racial lines between newly arrived

inmates, the very inmates that were subject to the policy

invalidated by the Court.”) (citation omitted).

Applying the four Turner factors to the instant case, the

court concludes that Starr’s First Amendment rights were not

unlawfully infringed.4 First, the prison’s Publisher’s Only Rule

seeks to advance obvious legitimate penological goals, and there

is a logical, valid connection between the regulation and those

goals - a connection that is neither arbitrary nor irrational. 

Defendants point out that Starr’s materials were rejected, not

because of their content, but because of the large volume of

written material on the many pages of paper that were included in

the single mailing. And, say defendants, the “penological

interest in regulating the volume of Internet printouts is, in

this case, the prevention of harmful information that might be

contained within the pages. No cursory review of the printouts

could have detected such a danger.” Defendants’ memorandum

(document no. 14-2) at 8. Defendants go on to point out that: 

Typewritten material is not rejected outright. The

concern with Internet printouts is that large volumes

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 12 of 23
5 Although the prison regulations in effect when Starr’s

materials were rejected did not specifically address voluminous

Internet printouts, those regulations currently allow inmates to

receive up to ten pages of such materials. Presumably, that is

because the effort necessary to read and review up to ten pages

of material printed from the Internet does not impose an undue

burden on prison officials. See Defendants’ memorandum, Exhibit

H, PPD 5.26. 

13

of material can be easily printed and sent to inmates. 

Prison officials need to do a thorough search of every

page to be sure there is nothing contained in or on the

pages that might pose a security risk (i.e., an escape

plan buried in one of the pages). . . . [T]he same

concern does not exist for typed letters because the

risk of a large number of inmates being constantly sent

voluminous typed letters does not exist. 

Id.

5 

The penological concerns identified by defendants are

plainly legitimate, as is the State’s interest in limiting the

amount of staff resources that must be devoted to reviewing

incoming inmate mail. See, e.g., Jackson v. Frank, 509 F.3d 389,

391 (7th Cir. 2007) (With regard to the first [Turner] factor, we

conclude that the defendants’ economic interest in saving staff

resources [with respect to reviewing incoming inmate mail] is

legitimate.”). See generally Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 550-

51 (1979) (concluding that a prison’s publisher’s only rule did

not violate inmates’ First Amendment rights); Jones v. N.C.

Prisoners’ Labor Union, Inc., 433 U.S. 119, 133 n.9 (1977) (“The

informed discretion of prison officials that there is potential

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 13 of 23
14

danger may be sufficient for limiting rights even though this

showing might be unimpressive if submitted as justification for

governmental restriction of personal communication among members

of the general public.”) (citation and internal punctuation

omitted). 

Turning to the next Turner factor, the record reveals that

there are alternate means by which inmates like Starr can acquire

the very materials at issue in this case. The prison provides

inmates with access to computers capable of retrieving and

printing New Hampshire statutes and administrative regulations. 

In fact, Starr concedes that he was able to get precisely the

materials at issue in this case by using the prison’s computers. 

Of course, Starr complains that because those computers were

“locked-out” when he attempted to acquire the statutes and

regulations, he was unable to acquire them without experiencing

some delay. There is, however, no evidence that the “lockouts”

of which Starr complains were purposefully created by any one or

more of the defendants. Nor is there any evidence suggesting

that the delay in acquiring the printed materials adversely

affected Starr in any way. Although Starr asserts that he had

ongoing (and perhaps even contemplated additional) litigation at

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 14 of 23
6 In his complaint, Starr alleges that the computer

“lockouts” which prevented him from accessing the statutory and

regulatory materials lasted “for approximately three weeks.” 

Complaint at para. 33. Since the first time Starr claims to have

encountered those lockouts was in November of 2003, it is

reasonable to infer that he was able to use (or could have used)

the prison’s computers to obtain the materials in question at

some point in December of 2003. The mailing at the center of

this dispute arrived at the prison on December 23, 2003. Thus,

it would certainly seem that the delay (if any) that Starr

incurred in obtaining those materials was de minimus. 

15

the time, nothing in the record suggests the brief delay in

getting those materials adversely affected that litigation.6 

The remaining two Turner factors can be addressed relatively

briefly. For the reasons discussed above, allowing inmates to

receive voluminous mailings containing Internet printouts would

place a substantial burden on the correctional officers charged

with screening incoming inmate mail. And, finally, as has been

noted, the prison already accommodates inmates’ exercise of the

right Starr asserts: inmates are afforded access to computers

through which they can obtain both statutory and regulatory

materials. 

Defendants’ application of the prison’s publisher’s only

rule was valid and reasonably related to legitimate penological

interests. As to count one of Starr’s complaint, then,

defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. 

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 15 of 23
16

II. Count Two - Due Process. 

In count two of his complaint, Starr asserts that he was

deprived of due process, in violation of the Fourteenth

Amendment, because although “Defendants had a clearly established

policy outlining the manner of pre-deprivation review, [they]

failed to follow their own policy.” Complaint at para. 38. At

this point, it is probably appropriate to note what Starr does

not claim: he “is not asserting a claim for the loss of the

physical printouts, but rather is asserting a claim of the denial

of his First Amendment right and due process right under the

Fourteenth Amendment, namely improper review and interference

with the right to appeal.” Plaintiff’s memorandum (document no.

20-2) at 21. See generally Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527

(1981); Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U.S. 422 (1982). 

Specifically, Starr complains that prison policy provides

that the LRC shall be comprised of three members: “a

representative from security, mental health, and education.” PPD

5.26 IV(C). And, says Starr, contrary to the policy directive,

the LRC that reviewed his materials was comprised of five

members, none of whom was from the education department. See

Complaint at para. 41 (“There was no authorization in PPD 5.26 to

allow administrative personnel such as unit managers to sit on

the LRC. The number [sitting on] the board was also against

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 16 of 23
17

policy. The LRC, according to policy, is limited to three

members. The LRC in this instance had five security members

sitting in review. Therefore, the members that sat on the LRC

had no authority to sit, review, nor vote on the rejection of the

material. Where the LRC did not have authority to seat five

security members, those members’ actions were invalid. 

Therefore, the Plaintiff was denied the due process guaranteed to

him by the policy governing the processing and review of his

mail.”) (emphasis supplied). 

Contrary to Starr’s suggestion, he was not denied his

constitutionally protected right to procedural due process simply

because the committee that convened to review incoming inmate

mail (including Starr’s) had five members, rather than three, or

because it included representatives from the prison’s

administration, or because it lacked a member from the education

department. As the Supreme Court has observed: 

The constitutional violation actionable under § 1983 is

not complete when the deprivation occurs; it is not

complete unless and until the State fails to provide

due process. Therefore, to determine whether a

constitutional violation has occurred, it is necessary

to ask what process the State provided, and whether it

was constitutionally adequate. 

Zinermon v. Burch, 494 U.S. 113, 126 (1990). 

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 17 of 23
18

Here, the process the State provided was constitutionally

adequate. The mere fact that the composition of the LRC failed

to comport precisely with prison regulations does not compel the

conclusion that Starr was deprived of his constitutionally

protected right to procedural due process. The federal

constitution does not prescribe a minimum standard for the

composition of the prison’s literary review committee and, in any

event, the irregularity identified by Starr has not been shown,

or even argued, to have adversely affected some substantive or

material interest. See generally Kentucky Dep’t of Corrections

v. Thompson, 490 U.S. 454 (1989) (establishing a two-part test to

resolve inmate due process claims). See also Levine v. Torvik,

986 F.2d 1506, 1515 (6th Cir. 1993) (“A state cannot be said to

have a federal due process obligation to follow all of its

procedures; such a system would result in the constitutionalizing

of every state rule, and would not be administrable.”). Shango

v. Jurich, 681 F.2d 1091, 1101 (7th Cir. 1982)

(“Constitutionalizing every state procedural right would stand

any due process analysis on its head. Instead of identifying the

substantive interest at stake and then ascertaining what process

is due to the individual before he can be deprived of that

interest, the process is viewed as a substantive end in

itself.”). 

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 18 of 23
19

Starr’s procedural due process claim is limited to the

composition of the LRC. Nevertheless, the court notes,

parenthetically, that Starr’s various appeals of the LRC’s

decision to reject the printed materials may have been denied on

erroneous grounds. It appears that prison officials (at each

level of the appellate process) mistakenly thought Starr had only

five calendar days to lodge his appeal, rather than five business

days (or, depending upon which PPD actually controlled, perhaps

as many as ten days). Accordingly, those officials may have been

wrong when they deemed Starr’s initial appeal to have been

untimely. See note 2, supra. But, even if Starr’s grievance was

denied at each level of the administrative appeal process based

on incorrect reasoning, that fact alone would not give rise to a

viable procedural due process claim. In other words, Starr was

not denied procedural due process simply because the individuals

addressing his various grievances and appeals arguably got it

wrong. Under those circumstances, the only claim that Starr

might assert - though, for good reason, he does not raise it - is

that he was denied substantive due process. But, even if he had

raised such a claim, it would not survive, given the undisputed

facts of record, and the absence of any conscious—shocking state

conduct. 

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 19 of 23
20

III. Retaliation.

In the final count of his complaint, as implicitly amended

by his legal memorandum, Starr asserts that defendant Coulombe

“retaliated against the Plaintiff by refusing to deliver the mail

in question when it initially arrived at the prison, and chose to

have it reviewed by the LRC, and ultimately voted to reject it as

a member of the LRC.” Plaintiff’s memorandum at 14. As this

court recognized in one of Starr’s earlier lawsuits: 

To prevail on a claim of retaliation, a prisoner must

establish (1) a specific constitutional right, (2) the

defendant’s intent to retaliate against the prisoner

for his or her exercise of that right, (3) a

retaliatory adverse act, and (4) causation. Causation

requires a showing that “but for the retaliatory motive

the complained of incident . . . would not have

occurred.” Johnson v. Rodriguez, 110 F.3d 299, 310

(5th Cir. 1997) (quoting Woods v. Smith, 60 F.3d 1161,

1166 (5th Cir. 1995)). 

Starr v. Dube, 05-CV-264-SM, 2007 DNH 153 at 8 (D.N.H. Dec. 12,

2007) (quoting McDonald v. Steward, 132 F.3d 225, 231 (5th Cir.

1998)). 

Here, even construing the record in the light most favorable

to Starr, there is insufficient evidence from which a properly

instructed, reasonable trier-of-fact could conclude that

Coulombe’s decision (as one member of the five-person LRC) to

reject the printed materials under the Publisher’s Only Rule was

motivated by an intent to retaliate against Starr for having

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 20 of 23
7 The relevance of the other Internet materials Starr

claims to have received is questionable. As defendants point

out, “These [other Internet] printouts . . . only amount to 19

pages, which consist mostly of pictures (the pictures make it

easier to search the content for unauthorized material). There

is no evidence that these were sent [to Starr] in early 2004, or

that they were sent together.” Defendants’ reply memorandum

(document no. 24) at 3. In other words, it is entirely possible

that those materials were delivered to Starr in groups of less

than ten pages and were, therefore, entirely consistent with the

new PPD governing Internet mailings. Even if they were sent to

Starr before the PPD was amended, they are of sufficiently few

pages that it was not unreasonable for prison officials to review

them and pass them along to Starr, rather than withhold them as

too voluminous to search. 

21

previously litigated against the prison. To be sure, Starr

points to Coulombe’s knowledge of those prior suits as evidence

permitting an inference of a retaliatory motive. He also

suggests that some material printed from the Internet was

actually delivered to him on other occasions, but says when

Coulombe saw that the materials at issue in this suit were legal

materials, he decided not to deliver them.7 

Nevertheless, whatever inferences may be properly drawn from

such evidence, they are, as a matter of law, insufficient to

permit Starr’s claims to go to a jury. Among other things, Starr

has not pointed to any evidence which would support the causation

element of his claim. That is, he has failed to point to any

evidence suggesting that the five-member LRC that was convened

would not have rejected his mail if Coulombe had not harbored a

discriminatory animus against him. 

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 21 of 23
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Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, as well as those set forth in

defendants’ memoranda (documents no. 14-2, 19, and 24), the

rejection (and eventual destruction) of the materials in question

did not impose an unreasonable burden on Starr’s First Amendment

rights. Nor was Starr’s constitutionally protected right to

procedural due process violated simply because the Literary

Review Committee was not composed in precise accordance with

prison administrative rules. And, finally, the record

establishes that Starr did not suffer any unlawful or

unconstitutional retaliation for having previously brought

litigation against prison officials. 

On this record, it is plain that the slight delay Starr

experienced in obtaining the statutory and regulatory materials

he sought did not interfere with his pursuit of any state or

federal litigation, whether pending or contemplated. At most,

Starr was minimally inconvenienced by the technical (and, based

on the record evidence, entirely unintentional) computer problems

that delayed his ability to acquire the materials in question. 

He was not, however, deprived of any constitutionally protected

rights. 

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 22 of 23
23

Plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment (document

no. 15) is denied, as is his motion for findings of fact

(document no. 16). Defendants’ motion for summary judgment

(document no. 14) is granted. The Clerk of Court shall enter

judgment in accordance with this order and close the case. 

SO ORDERED.

____________________________

Steven J. McAuliffe

Chief Judge

January 29, 2009

cc: Darren Starr, pro se

John R. Lilly, Esq.

John Vinson, Esq., NH DOC

Nancy Smith, Esq., NH AG’s Office

Case 1:06-cv-00487-SM Document 32 Filed 01/29/09 Page 23 of 23