Opinion ID: 220757
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Withheld Legal Documents Claim

Text: In his habeas petition, Evans asserted that the BOP prevented him from accessing certain legal documents necessary for the preparation of a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition. The parties agree that Evans's release moots this claim as he now has access to all available legal papers. Evans asks that we vacate the district court's decision with respect to his legal documents claim to ensure he is not prejudiced should he choose to take other legal action at some future date relative to the BOP's decision to deny him access to his legal papers while incarcerated. See, e.g., Christopher v. Harbury, 536 U.S. 403, 414, 122 S.Ct. 2179, 153 L.Ed.2d 413 (2002) (discussing claims for denial of access to courts that do not look forward to a class of future litigation, but backward to a time when specific litigation ended poorly, or could not have commenced, or could have produced a remedy subsequently unobtainable (footnote omitted)). Because Evans's post-release access to his available legal papers moots his claim and prevents him from challenging this aspect of the district court's decision, we VACATE the decision on this issue so as to prevent the judgment from prejudicing Evans in future litigation. See Ford v. Wilder, 469 F.3d 500, 505 (6th Cir.2006) (citing U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mall P'ship, 513 U.S. 18, 21-22, 115 S.Ct. 386, 130 L.Ed.2d 233 (1994)) (allowing vacatur when a civil case becomes moot during an appeal in order to eliminate a judgment the losing party was prevented from opposing on direct review).