Opinion ID: 696325
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Retaliation Claim: Causes of Action # 1, # 4, and # 10

Text: 24 First, the law governing defendants' conduct was clearly established. Specifically, the law clearly established that defendants cannot transfer a prisoner from one correctional institution to another in order to punish the prisoner for exercising his First Amendment right to pursue civil rights litigation in the courts. See Rizzo v. Dawson, 778 F.2d 527, 532 (9th Cir.1985). Because the law governing defendants' conduct was clearly established, we must determine whether a reasonable prison official could have believed the conduct was lawful. See Act-Up!, 988 F.2d at 871. 25 A reasonable prison official could have believed the transfer was lawful if he were advancing a legitimate penological goal and his means were narrowly tailored to achieve that goal. Rizzo, 778 F.2d at 532. Legitimate goals of a correctional institution include the preservation of internal order and discipline and the maintenance of institutional security. Id. Here, Schroeder was disrupting internal discipline. Specifically, Schroeder committed seven rule violations in only his first sixteen days at the minimum security facility. 26 Schroeder was also disrupting internal order. Specifically, Schroeder imposed an excessive burden on the correctional staff at the minimum security facility by constantly demanding access to the law library and continuously requesting legal materials. The facility was not adequately staffed to handle such a high volume of requests. See supra note 3. Finally, Schroeder also posed a security problem to the correctional staff at the minimum security facility. Specifically, Schroeder had used force or threats of force upon a correctional worker while at the medium security facility, a fact defendants did not know when they accepted him as a transfer. In addition, Schroeder's custody level did not warrant the transfer from the medium security facility to the minimum security facility in the first place. 27 Accordingly, we conclude that defendants were advancing legitimate penological goals and their means were narrowly tailored to meet those goals; thus, defendants could have believed the transfer of Schroeder from the minimum security facility back to the medium security facility was lawful. See Rizzo, 778 F.2d at 532. Consequently, we conclude that defendants are entitled to the defense of qualified immunity with regard to the retaliation claim. Romero, 931 F.2d at 627 ([R]egardless of whether the constitutional violation occurred, the officer should prevail if ... the officer could have reasonably believed that his particular conduct was lawful.) (emphasis added).