Court Opinion

ID: 9487426
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 12:16:12.210065+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:52:15.671009
License: Public Domain

*709BOWNES, Senior Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
The court has written a very persuasive opinion. This is due to a combination of two factors: the outstanding skill and writing style of the author; and its invocation of the doctrine of “fundamental fairness” to reach a result that seems at first blush to be fair and just. After all, why should an escaped felon be rewarded for resisting extradition to the state from which he fled prison? I dissent, however, because I think the court’s opinion does not meet head-on an important constitutional issue raised by petitioner. This issue was, in my judgment, squarely confronted and correctly decided by the district court.
With respect, I do not think that the basic issue is “fundamental fairness”; instead, I believe it is whether petitioner’s constitutional right of access to the courts was violated. For the reasons that follow I think that this constitutionally guaranteed right was abridged.
An inmate has no independent federal constitutional right to credit on a sentence lawfully imposed by one state, for time spent in the custody of another state, absent a statute in the sentencing state so providing. See Boutwell v. Nagle, 861 F.2d 1530, 1531 (11th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1099, 109 5.Ct. 2452, 104 L.Ed.2d 1006 (1989); Palmer v. Dugger, 833 F.2d 253, 254 (11th Cir.1987). Petitioner does not have a constitutional right to credit for the time spent in custody in Illinois fighting extradition to Massachusetts. The question is whether the practice of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC), pursuant to which he was denied credit, amounts to retaliation against escapees who exercise their right of access to the courts.
It is well settled that prisoners, no less than any other citizens, have a constitutional right of access to the courts. See Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 821, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 1494, 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977); Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974); Johnson v. Avery, 393 U.S; 483, 89 S.Ct. 747, 21 L.Ed.2d 718 (1969). “[SJtates have an affirmative obligation to assure that inmates have meaningful access to courts.” Germany v. Vance, 868 F.2d 9, 14 (1st Cir.1989) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see also Bounds, 430 U.S. at 832-34, 97. S.Ct. at 1500-01.6
The right of access has been developed primarily in prisoner eases where the inmate seeks to challenge the conditions of his confinement or his underlying conviction. See Crowder v. Sinyard, 884 F.2d 804, 811 (5th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 496 U.S. 924, 110 S.Ct. 2617, 110 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990). These cases generally concern the adequacy of prison libraries, access to legal assistance, or the availability of pens, paper, postage and other non-legal materials without which court documents cannot be drafted. See, e.g., Alston v. DeBruyn, 13 F.3d 1036 (7th Cir.1994) (denial of access to law library and adequate legal assistance); Petrick v. Maynard, 11 F.3d 991 (10th Cir.1993) (inadequate law library); Davidson v. Smith, 9 F.3d 4 (2d Cir.1993) (destruction of inmate’s legal materials); Gluth v. Kangas, 951 F.2d 1504 (9th Cir.1991) (high postage, copying and supply costs); Ching v. Lewis, 895 F.2d 608 (9th Cir.1990) (right of access .includes attorney visitation); see also Bounds, 430 U.S. at 824-25, 97 S.Ct. at 1496 (“[Ijndigent inmates must be provided at state expense with paper and pen to draft legal documents, with notarial services to authenticate them, and with stamps to mail them.”). The right of access is not, however, limited to such cases. As the Supreme Court held in’ the context of a diversity tort action nearly a century ago:
The right to sue and defend in courts is the alternative of force. In an organized society it is the right conservative of all other rights, and lies at the foundation of orderly government. It is one of the highest and most essential privileges of citizenship ... granted and protected by the federal constitution.
*710Chambers v. Baltimore & Ohio R.R., 207 U.S. 142, 148, 28 S.Ct. 34, 35, 52 L.Ed. 143 (1907). And at least, one court of appeals has explicitly rejected the proposition
that a prisoner’s right of “adequate, effective, and meaningful” access to the courts, as recognized by the Supreme Court in Bounds v. Smith, is limited to the presentation of constitutional, civil rights, and habeas corpus claims_ [Tjhe Bounds opinion was primarily concerned with constitutional and civil rights claims and with the minimum legal resources that prisons must afford to inmates to ensure effective access to the courts. Recognition of the constitutional right of access to the courts, however, long precedes Bounds, and has from its inception been applied to civil as well as constitutional claims.
Jackson v. Procunier, 789 F.2d 307, 311 (5th Cir.1986) (collecting cases); accord Straub v. Monge, 815 F.2d 1467, 1470 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 946, 108 S.Ct. 336, 98 L.Ed.2d 363 (1987). The constitutional right of access to the courts is broad, and is not limited to an inmate’s right to challenge conditions of confinement or an underlying conviction. It covers an inmate’s right to bring a divorce action, Corpus v. Estelle, 551 F.2d 68, 70 (5th Cir.1977), and a common law nuisance lawsuit, Harrison v. Springdale Water & Sewer Comm’n, 780 F.2d 1422, 1427-28 (8th Cir.1986). I believe that it also encompasses the right of an escaped felon to challenge his extradition.
Under Illinois law petitioner had a statutory right to challenge his extradition. See 725 ILCS 225/10 (Smith-Hurd 1992). Petitioner also had a federal right to challenge his extradition through a habeas corpus proceeding in federal court. Crumley v. Snead, 620 F.2d 481, 483 (5th Cir.1980) (citing Roberts v. Reilly, 116 U.S. 80, 6 S.Ct. 291, 29 L.Ed. 544 (1885)).
It is now firmly established that an act taken in retaliation for the exercise of a constitutionally protected right is forbidden, even if the act, if taken for a different purpose, would have been proper. McDonald v. Hall, 610 F.2d 16,18 (1st Cir.1979); Matzker v. Herr, 748 F.2d 1142, 1150 (7th Cir.1984). Retaliation by prison officials against an inmate for pursuing legal action constitutes interference with that inmate’s right of access to the courts. McDonald, 610 F.2d at 18; see also Smith v. Maschner, 899 F.2d 940, 947 (10th Cir.1990); Valandingham v. Bojorquez, 866 F.2d 1135, 1138 (9th Cir.1989). Thus, although an inmate may not, for example, have a constitutional right to remain in a particular institution or hold a particular job assignment, prison officials may not transfer him or deny him a job assignment in retaliation for‘the exercise of a constitutionally protected activity. See Williams v. Meese, 926 F.2d 994, 998 (10th Cir.1991) (inmate transfer cannot be used as retaliation); Howland v. Kilquist, 833 F.2d 639, 644 (7th Cir.1987) (same); McDonald, 610 F.2d at 18 (same). The same rationale applies to the denial of credit against a prisoner’s sentence for time spent in another state’s custody while challenging extradition.
In addressing petitioner’s claim of retaliation, the district court found:
The circumstances of this case ... strongly suggest the presence of a retaliatory response to a prisoner’s exercising his constitutional right of access to the courts. The facts indicate a reasonable likelihood that in denying Beauchamp’s request that it credit his sentence with the time he spent in custody in Illinois solely on the basis of the Massachusetts escape charges, the Commonwealth’s Department of Corrections impermissibly penalized him for invoking his statutory right to challenge rendition. Undisputedly, only because Petitioner invoked his right to contest extradition was he deprived of sentencing credit for 1,574 days he spent in custody; had he waived extradition and returned immediately to Massachusetts’ custody, he would have received full credit for those same days of imprisonment.
Beauchamp, slip op. at 13. We review the district court’s factual finding of retaliation for clear error, and will reverse only if we are firmly and unequivocally convinced that an error has been committed. See Tresca Bros. Sand & Gravel v. Truck Drivers Union, Local 170, 19 F.3d 63, 65 (1st Cir.1994); American Title Ins. Co. v. East West Financial, 16 F.3d 449, 453 (1st Cir.1994). In *711other words, if- the district court’s factual finding is plausible based on a whole-record review, we must affirm even if we would have reached a different result in the first instance. See Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 578, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1511, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985).
The district court inferred the existence of retaliation from the fact that respondent had previously argued that the denial of credit to petitioner for the time he served in Illinois challenging extradition was essential to discourage extradition contests by escapees. Respondent argues that this is not enough on which to base a finding of retaliation, and that “[positive evidence of retaliatory action is necessary.” Brief for Respondent at 24. Although I am not sure what respondent means by “positive,” I assume that it means direct as opposed to circumstantial evidence.
Time and time again courts have stressed that “[p]recisely because the ultimate fact of retaliation turns on defendants’ state of mind, it is particularly difficult to establish by direct evidence.” Smith, 899 F.2d at 949 (citing McDonald, 610 F.2d at 18). Thus, circumstantial as opposed to direct evidence may be enough to support a finding of retaliation. See Mesnick v. General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816, 828 (1st Cir.1991), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 112 S.Ct. 2965, 119 L.Ed.2d 586 (1992). In the present case, however, there was direct evidence in the record to support petitioner’s allegation of retaliation. In the Superior Court of Massachusetts, respondent submitted evidence showing how quickly escapees are generally returned to Massachusetts after being apprehended. It then argued that petitioner should not be credited for his Illinois time because doing so would improperly provide escapees with an incentive to challenge extradition. Clearly respondent was advocating that petitioner’s claim for credit should be denied so that other escapees would be deterred from challenging extradition in the future, despite their established right to do so. My review of the record leads me to conclude that there was sufficient evidence from which a rational factfinder could find that petitioner was retaliated against for having challenged his extradition. And this is as far as an appellate court can go. I believe that the court had no choice but to uphold the district court’s finding that respondent impermissibly retaliated against petitioner for exercising through ha-beas corpus proceedings his right of access to the courts.
The court neatly avoids the issue of retaliation by pointing out that petitioner himself was not denied access to the courts. This ignores the fact that petitioner’s claim for credit was denied by DOC to discourage the bringing of such claims in the future, regardless of the merits, and in the face of the recognized right of escaped felons to contest extradition in the courts.
As part of its “fundamental fairness” rationale the court, in. effect, finds that petitioner’s basis for contesting extradition had no merit. I do not think that the right of access to the courts hinges on the probability that a given claim will succeed. The resolution of the constitutional question should not turn upon a post hoc determination that petitioner’s extradition challenges were frivolous.
It is settled that, “when a prison regulation impinges on inmates’ constitutional rights, the regulation is valid if it is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 2261, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987). Although Turner concerned prison rules and regulations, I see no reason' why its rationale should not apply to other prison actions that threaten an inmate’s access to the courts, such as the denial of credit on a sentence, as in the case at bar. Cf. Frazier v. Dubois, 922 F.2d 560, 562 (10th Cir.1990) (applying Turner to inmate transfer).
In conducting a Turner analysis, the district court found it dispositive that “[r]espon-dent ... [had] proffer[ed] no legitimate pe-nological interests which might justify the Commonwealth’s response to Petitioner’s exercise of his right to challenge rendition.” Beauchamp, slip op. at 15. Respondent has repeated its omission by failing to provide this court with any penological interests that are advanced by denying sentence credit to petitioner. Those interests (real or imagined) did not prevent the Commonwealth from crediting the petitioner with the time he spent in Illinois after his extradition chai-*712lenge. See ante at 706 n. 2. This belies the court’s characterization of the no-credit rule as a “decision generally to deny credit to escaped prisoners for time spent outside Massachusetts,” ante at 706. Application of the rule only to the time associated with the petitioner’s exercise of his constitutional right bolsters the inference that the denial of credit was retaliatory. See supra at 704-05. Respondent simply argues that tbe Turner analysis is inappropriate in the ease at bar. See Brief for Respondent at 23-24. But respondent does not explain why this is so, nor does it offer an alternative test. Respondent does argue that principles of federalism require this court to defer to state court decisions to credit or not to credit a prisoner’s sentence with time served in another state. I have been unable to find any legal basis for respondent’s theory.
I recognize that prison administrators must be given wide latitude in formulating policies and' procedures for running their prison systems, see Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. at 405, 94 S.Ct. at 1807 (“courts are ill equipped to deal with the increasingly urgent problems of prison administration and reform”), particularly where state prisons are involved, see Turner, 482 U.S. at 85, 107 S.Ct. at 2259 (‘Where a state penal system is involved, federal courts have ... additional reason to accord deference to the appropriate prison authorities.”). , States, however, cannot implement, without justification, practices or policies that interfere with the exercise of-prisoners’ constitutional rights. See id. at 89-90, 107 S.Ct. at 2261-2262. While there may exist some legitimate penological interest that would justify denying petitioner credit for the time he served in Illinois, I can only speculate as to what it might be.
Petitioner is not a person who evokes sympathy. Nor does his plight suggest that a great injustice has been done him. Nevertheless, he has raised an important constitutional issue involving the right of access to the courts. And I do not think that the issue should be avoided by masking it in the garb of “fundamental fairness.” The court today decides that a Massachusetts escaped felon has no right to credit against his time spent in custody while exercising his undoubted right to contest extradition.-. I respectfully disagree. For the reasons stated herein I would affirm the judgment of the district court. I, therefore, dissent.

. Although the Supreme Court has, at various times, viewed the right of access as one aspect of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the First Amendment right to petition government for grievances, and the Privileges and Immunities clause of Article IV, section 2 of the Constitution, see generally Germany, 868 F.2d at 17 & n. 9, we believe that it is most appropriate to view the Due Process Clause as the source of that right. Id. at 17.