Opinion ID: 162166
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Media Correspondence

Text: In his amended complaint, Mr. Brown included allegations that prison officials unlawfully opened correspondence addressed to him from a radio station and intercepted an outgoing letter to the same address. We agree with the district court’s conclusions that the interception of the of the two items was reasonable. The incoming letter contained a check for Mr. Brown and was sent by his godmother, who worked at the radio station. Although inmates are generally allowed to correspond with the media, the correspondence was with Mr. Brown’s godmother and was of a personal nature. The Defendants may regulate -5- correspondence thought to be disguised as privileged media mail. See Guahardo v. Estelle , 580 F.2d 748, 759 (5th Cir. 1978) (noting that the district court’s decision did “not permit wholesale sending and receiving of mail to any address purporting to be that of a media representative” and that “prison authorities may have a reasonable time, when necessary, to verify that the addressee reflected on the face of an envelope is actually a member of the editorial or reporting staff of a media organization”). Likewise, we have stated that “[i]n the case of unprivileged incoming and outgoing prison mail, regulation by prison officials is ‘essentially an administrative matter in which the courts will not intervene.’” United States. v. Gordon , 168 F.3d 1222, 1228 (10th Cir. 1999) (quoting Wilkerson v. Warden of U.S. Reformatory, El Reno , 465 F.2d 956, 957 (10th Cir. 1972)).