Opinion ID: 682201
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Stamps

Text: 5 Patterson contends that defendants denied him access to the courts because they failed to provide him free postage for letters sent to his attorney. Even if defendants had been required to provide Patterson with free postage under the circumstances, Patterson's claim fails because he has failed to allege an actual injury resulting from the defendants' practice. See Sands v. Lewis, 886 F.2d 1166, 1171 (9th Cir.1989) (if inmate's claims do not involve the denial of access to adequate law libraries or legal assistance, inmate must allege an actual injury, or a specific instance in which the inmate was actually denied court access); King v. Atiyeh, 814 F.2d 565, 568 (9th Cir.1987) (while prisons must provide inmates free postage stamps to mail legal documents and other means of access to the courts, the reviewing court should focus on whether the individual plaintiff before it has been denied meaningful access). Accordingly, the district court did not err by dismissing this claim. See Baker, 859 F.2d at 127.