Opinion ID: 685664
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Photocopying Policy

Text: 27 We reject Defendants' erroneous assertion that Plaintiffs have not alleged an actual injury as defined by Sands, supra, to state a claim that the photocopying policy breaches the confidentiality of inmates' legal documents. Plaintiffs' Complaint specifically alleges that their confidential legal memos from legal assistants are routinely read by ADOC staff and that because they must give their materials to the staff to be photocopied, the confidentiality of those materials is compromised. Complaint at 14. Read liberally, as required by our decisions, these allegations suffice to state a claim for the denial of meaningful access to the courts. See King v. Atiyeh, 814 F.2d 565, 568 (9th Cir.1987) (plaintiffs successfully alleged that the provision of only three stamps per week denied them meaningful access to the courts even though complaint only stated that it was often necessary to communicate with the courts more than three times per week). 28 The district court found that inmates' legal documents have been read by staff members who photocopy them. In Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. at 575-77, 94 S.Ct. at 2984-85, the Court upheld a prison regulation that allowed staff to inspect, but not to read, inmates' legal mail. Lower courts have held that legal mail may not be read nor copied without the permission of the inmate. Jensen v. Klecker, 648 F.2d 1179, 1182 (8th Cir.1981); Ramos v. Lamm, 639 F.2d 559, 582 (10th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 1041, 101 S.Ct. 1759, 68 L.Ed.2d 239 (1981); Guajardo v. Estelle, 580 F.2d 748, 758-59 (5th Cir.1978). Thus, the district court did not err in concluding that ADOC's photocopying policy, which allows the confidentiality of inmates' legal documents to be breached, denies inmates meaningful access to the courts.