Court Opinion

ID: 9629416
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 09:42:20.964031+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:07:18.958193
License: Public Domain

BEA, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and concurring in the judgment:
I agree with the majority opinion except for its treatment of the prison’s legitimate penological interest. To my mind, the majority’s holding that there is no legitimate penological interest in admonishing prisoners to be more respectful in future written grievances is unnecessary to the resolution of the case. If the majority opinion made the exact opposite holding, that there is such a legitimate penological interest, summary judgment would still be in error. This is because a rational trier of fact could find, based on Cry having warned Brodheim to “be careful what you write, request on this form,” that Cry retaliated against Brodheim for either being disrespectful in the grievance, or for having filed the grievance itself. Because there is no legitimate penological interest in warning prisoners not to file grievances, a trial would still be necessary to resolve the issue of Cry’s retaliatory motive even if the majority held there was no penological interest in admonishing prisoners to be more respectful. Therefore, because the district court erred by granting summary judgment to defendants no matter which way we decide this issue, it is unnecessary to decide it. However, I agree that the district court erred by granting summary judgment to the defendants, so I concur.