Lopez

DISCUSSION

Lopez contends on appeal that dismissal of his action was an abuse of discretion, which violated his state and federal rights to access to the courts. Relying primarily on Jameson v. Desta (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 672 (Jameson), Lopez argues the trial court failed to exercise sound discretion to insure his meaningful access to the courts.

2 An Inmates’ Right to Access to the Courts and Standard of Review

“An indigent prisoner who is a defendant in a bona fide civil action threatening his or her personal or property interests has a federal and state constitutional right, as a matter of due process and equal protection, of meaningful access to the courts in order to present a defense. (Yarbrough v. Superior Court (1985) 39 Cal.3d 197, 203-207 [(Yarbrough)]; Payne v. Superior Court (1976) 17 Cal.3d 908, 913-919, 924 [(Payne)]; Annot., Inmate’s Appearance–Civil Trials (1990) 82 A.L.R.4th 1063, 1071-1073.) A prisoner also has a statutory right under Penal Code section 2601, subdivision (e) to initiate civil actions. In the case of an indigent prisoner initiating a bona fide civil action, this statutory right carries with it a right of meaningful access to the courts to…