Ivan Carter, Jr. v. Velva Hampson

MEMORANDUM

Ivan Ray Carter, Jr., a California state prisoner, appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging denial of access to the courts. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo. Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 1113, 1118 (9th Cir.2012) (dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A); Barren v. Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193, 1194 (9th Cir.1998) (order) (dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (e)(2)(B)(ii)). We affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Carter’s access-to-courts claims because Carter failed to allege facts sufficient to show that he suffered an actual injury as the result of defendant’s conduct. See Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 348-53 , 116 S.Ct. 2174 , 135 L.Ed.2d 606 (1996) (access-to-courts claim requires showing that the defendant’s conduct caused actual injury to a non-frivolous legal claim); see also Christopher v. Harbury, 536 U.S. 403, 414-16 , 122 S.Ct. 2179 , 153 L.Ed.2d 413 (2002) (discussing elements of a backward-looking access-to-courts claim).

The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying leave to amend the complaint because amendment would have been futile. See Manzarek v. St…