Opinion ID: 678317
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Seizure of Pin-up Pictures

Text: 4 Plaintiff complains that prison officials seized approximately 250 loose pin-up pictures from his cell in violation of his due process, equal protection, and First Amendment rights. The district court held that the prison officials reasonably concluded that defendant's pictures were a fire hazard, and therefore that the seizure was justified by legitimate security interests. See Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89 (1987) (prison regulations that impinge on the constitutional rights of prisoners valid if reasonably related to legitimate penological interests); Sullivan v. Ford, 609 F.2d 197, 198 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 969 (1980). Plaintiff contends, however, that the fire hazard rationale was a pretext, given the large number of other loose papers and magazine pages containing other subject matter that were not seized. In relation to another of plaintiff's claims, defendants themselves contend that plaintiff had in excess of 600 pieces of unused paper stockpiled in his cell. There is, therefore, a genuine issue of fact concerning the basis for defendant's actions, making summary judgment on this issue inappropriate.