United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________ No. 97-1130

___________ Martin Wishnatsky, * * Appellant, * * v. * * Timothy Schuetzle, Warden of the * Appeal from the United States North Dakota State Penitentiary, in * District Court for the his individual capacity; Wanda Bier, * District of North Dakota. assistant to the NDSP Warden, in her * individual capacity; Judy Berg, NDSP * [UNPUBLISHED] property officer, in her individual * capacity; Cordell Stromme, Chief of * Security at NDSP, in his individual * capacity; Mirna Stromme, NDSP mail * clerk, in her individual capacity, * * Appellees. *

___________ Submitted: March 25, 1998 Filed: March 27, 1998

___________ Before BOWMAN, WOLLMAN, and MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circui t Judges.

___________The Honorable Rodney S. Webb, Chief Judge, United States District Court for 1 the District of North Dakota. -2- PER CURIAM. Martin Wishnatsky appeals from the district court & s grant of summary judgment 1 to North Dakota State Penitentiary (NDSP) officials in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action

. We affirm the judgment of the district court.
Mr. Wishnatsky claimed that while he was an NDSP inmate from March until Augus t 1992, defendants violated his First Amendment rights by screening from hi s incoming and outgoing mail “postcards of unborn children, both alive in the womb and d e ad through abortion.” According to defendants, they enforced a policy prohibiting possession of pictures of aborted fetuses (aborted-fetus policy); i nmates were permitted to promote their abortion views orally, and to send, receive, and read letters, articles, or other literat

ure regarding abortion; and when a postcard violating the aborted-fetus policy arrived at NDSP addressed to Mr. Wishnatsky, he was notified it wa s prohibited, it was placed in his file for him to retrieve upon his release, and a copy of the card & s written portion was given to him.
Defen dant

Warden Timothy Schuetzle attested he had continued the aborted

fetus policy based on his NDSP experience, as well as on abortion-related violence in open socie ty, and was “personally aware of numerous incidents at NDSP where pic tures were the impetus of physical confrontations.” Mr. Schuetzle attested h e believed abortion was “a sensitive issue to numerous inmates,” and inmates & beliefs on the issue had “caused verbal threats and confrontation between inmates.” After Mr

. Schuetzle had enforced the policy to prohibit Mr. Wishna tsky from receiving postcards depicting aborted fetuses, Mr. Wishnatsky complained of inmates & threats against him thatthe dis trict court found “quite chilling and obviously related to [his] stance o n abortion.”-3-

Although “[p]rison walls do not form a barrier separating prison inmates from the pro tections of the Constitution,” their First Amendment rights may be limited b y re gulations “reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” See Turner v

. Safley , 482 U.S. 78, 84, 89 (1987). Given the deference granted prison officials and the particular facts of this case--including the alternative mea ns of expression available, and the threats of inmate violenc e (which appear related to Mr. Wishnatsky & s abortion st ance)--we conclude Mr. Wishnatsky failed to meet his burden of demonstrating the abor ted-fetus policy was not reasonably related to NDSP & s penological interest i n security. See Bell v. Wolfish , 441 U.S. 520, 547 (1979) (prison administrator s accord ed“wide-ranging deference” in adopting and executing policies they dee m necessary for security); Orebaugh v. Caspari , 910 F.2d 526, 527 -28 (8th Cir.1990) (per curiam) (inmat

e bears burden of proving policy is not reasonably related to legitimate penological interest). Furthermore, Mr. Wishnatsky & s evidence did not establish that he was denie d po stcards unmistakably depicting in utero fetuses, and we believe any denial of a postcard that may have depicted a fetus in the womb was supported by the sam e security concerns as the aborted-fetus policy. Finally, as inmates were prohib ited from possessing pictures of aborted fetuses, we conclude NDSP could properly confiscate as contraband any such postcards that Mr. Wishnatsky attempted to mail from prison. Accordingly, we affirm. A true copy.
Attest: CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.