Elmo Williams v. H. v. Field

The appellant is a California state prisoner. Invoking the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 et seq., and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 , 1343(3), he instituted suit against a number of state officials of the institution in which he is confined. He made numerous charges, some of which, even if true, would not support his action. He did, however, generally allege that the defendants had conspired to, and did, confiscate and destroy certain of his personal property consisting of “legal documents, letters, etc.,” thus wrongfully preventing his access to the courts and frustrating efforts to gain his freedom. These allegations did “shadow forth a claim under the Civil Rights Act, however imperfectly.” Jenks v. Henys, 378 F.2d 334, 335 (9th Cir. 1967).

With his complaint, the appellant filed a petition, with supporting affidavit, “for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.” The District Court authorized that the complaint be filed without requiring prepayment of the ordinary filing fee. It ordered that issuance of summons be withheld, however, and dismissed the complaint upon the ground that “[t]he records and files of this court do not sustain the gravamen of the complaint submitted for filing in…