Opinion ID: 359796
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Law Library Requests

Text: 26 An alternate reason given for plaintiff's transfer from the State Farm was his attempt to establish a law library there. Ironically, Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 52 L.Ed.2d 72, was decided about two months prior to the district court's decision and held that prison authorities must provide prisoners with adequate law libraries in the absence (as here) of adequate assistance from persons trained in the law. Thus Buise was requesting what has since been held to be his constitutional right. 27 Even in cases in which what is requested is not something to which an inmate has a constitutional right, an inmate's request for improved conditions has been held constitutionally protected. See, E. g., Sostre v. McGinnis, 442 F.2d 178, 200 (2d Cir. 1971) (En banc ), certiorari denied,404 U.S. 1049, 92 S.Ct. 719, 30 L.Ed.2d 740; 405 U.S. 978, 92 S.Ct. 1190, 31 L.Ed.2d 254; Haymes v. Montayne, 547 F.2d 188, 191 (2d Cir. 1976), certiorari denied, 431 U.S. 967, 97 S.Ct. 2925, 53 L.Ed.2d 1063; Carothers v. Follette, 314 F.Supp. 1014 (S.D.N.Y.1970). In fact, since as Bounds indicates, Buise could have filed suit to vindicate this right, and during such a suit might have been asked whether he first sought relief from prison officials (cf. Paden v. United States, 430 F.2d 882 (5th Cir. 1970), affirmed in part, 402 U.S. 33, 91 S.Ct. 1289, 28 L.Ed.2d 577), making a library request to prison officials can hardly be penalized. There is no proof or even a claim that Buise's request was particularly vexing or disruptive. In this context, the request was constitutionally protected. For the reasons stated in Part IA above, a transfer based on such constitutionally protected speech is improper. Moreover, for the reasons stated in Bounds, the prison officials were wrong in not approving Buise's request for a prison library.C. Writ Department and Inmate Council Requests 28 The remaining reasons for plaintiff's transfer, his requests to establish an inmate council and a writ department, are also protected activities for the reasons noted above even though the items requested may not be constitutional rights. 11 We need not decide whether it would have been protected to request establishment of an inmate council that would act like a union, because as we were advised without objection at the oral argument, the inmate council requested here was one that would oversee the operation of the writ room. Since these requests are protected activities, they were not a proper basis for transfer.