In Re Garcia

In February 1997, while incarcerated at California Medical Facility, Carlos Tomas Garcia requested permission to correspond with Tony Protopappas, an inmate at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (Donovan). Approval from both institutions is required before correspondence is permitted. Officials at California Medical Facility approved Garcia’s request. Officials at Donovan denied his request based on a policy which limits correspondence between Donovan inmates and inmates housed at other institutions to immediate family members, inmates having a child in common, and coparties or a witness in pending litigation.

Garcia petitions this court to order the Donovan warden to allow him to correspond with inmate Protopappas, contending (1) the Donovan policy violates the purpose of California Code of Regulations, title 15, section 3130 to encourage correspondence between inmates; (2) the Donovan policy is a regulation of general application, the adoption of which failed to comport with requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (Gov. Code, § 11340 et seq.); and (3) previous attempts to similarly limit correspondence between inmates without APA compliance have…