Opinion ID: 2831831
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Theft of Legal Documents

Text: As with the claim for unsanitary conditions, we have already explained that we must revive Willey’s claim for theft of legal documents because the district court dismissed it on grounds not raised in the defendants’ motion. We write further to clarify how to consider this claim on remand. The district court dismissed this claim “because New York state law provides him with an adequate post‐deprivation remedy, i.e., § 9 of the Court of Claims Act.” Id. at 669–70. In support of this conclusion, the district court cited the Supreme Court’s holding that “even the intentional destruction of an inmate’s property by a prison officer does not violate the Due Process Clause if the state provides that inmate with an adequate post‐deprivation remedy.” Id. at 669 (citing Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 536 (1984)). 42 If Willey’s claim were for the destruction of his television or jewelry, this analysis would suffice. But nowhere does the district court distinguish between replaceable consumer goods and possibly irreplaceable legal documents. Legal documents have characteristics that differentiate them from mere “property” whose destruction can be adequately remedied by a generic property‐deprivation state law. Their theft or destruction, for example, may irrevocably hinder a prisoner’s efforts to vindicate legal rights. On remand, the district court should consider this claim as one for impeding access to the courts: It is now established beyond doubt that prisoners have a constitutional right of access to the courts. This Court recognized that right more than 35 years ago when it struck down a regulation prohibiting state prisoners from filing petitions for habeas corpus unless they were found “ ‘properly drawn’ ” by the “ ‘legal investigator’ ” for the parole board. We held this violated the principle that “the state and its officers may not abridge or impair petitioner’s right to apply to a federal court for a writ of habeas corpus.” Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 821–22 (1977) (citations omitted).