Opinion ID: 364668
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: regulation of mail

Text: 231 As the majority opinion states, the regulation of convict correspondence in this circuit is governed by our recent decision in Guajardo v. Estelle, 5 Cir. 1978, 580 F.2d 748. Guajardo, however, did not deal with the rights of pretrial detainees or the first amendment rights of those with whom such persons, as yet uncondemned, would correspond. The freedom of speech of persons not yet found guilty of any crime and of those with whom they seek to communicate should be unrestrained save insofar as their safe detention pending trial requires. 232 Under the facts of this case, I agree that Guajardo standards should be applied to pretrial detainees as well as to convicted persons. The Jackson County Jail is a relatively small institution. Parchman prisoners are confined there. Even if each person slept in a single cell in the new jail, there is the possibility of prisoner contact. The majority opinion, moreover, would permit pretrial detainees to be confined in the same cells as some convicts. Therefore, in the present case I agree that the same standards can constitutionally be applied to pretrial detainees in the interest of institutional security.