Henry Hayes v. R. Bolen

MEMORANDUM

California state prisoner Henry M. Hayes, aka Henry M. Mitchell, appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging violation of the First Amendment relating to prison mail. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo a dismissal on the basis of qualified immunity. Nelson v. Heiss, 271 F.3d 891, 893 (9th Cir.2001). We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

The district court properly dismissed Hayes’s First Amendment claim for damages on the basis of qualified immunity because Hayes did not have a clearly established right to receive mail weighing more than prison regulations permitted. See Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 232 , 129 S.Ct. 808 , 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009) (defendant is entitled to qualified immunity unless the conduct at issue violated a clearly established constitutional right); Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730, 739 , 122 S.Ct. 2508 , 153 L.Ed.2d 666 (2002) (“For a constitutional right to be clearly established, its contours must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right.” (citation and internal quotation marks…