John Witherow v. Marvin Paff

John Witherow,. an inmate in the Nevada State prison system, filed this complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . He alleges that defendants violated his constitutional rights by refusing to allow him to send mail to the Nevada Attorney General without a “cursory visual inspection” of the contents of the envelope in order to check for offensive or dangerous materials. The defendants are various prison officials who promulgated, administer, and enforce the regulation pursuant to which the inspections are made. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants. Witherow appeals. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Appellant, as a prison inmate, enjoys a First Amendment right to send and receive mail. See Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401, 407 , 109 S.Ct. 1874, 1878-79 , 104 L.Ed.2d 459 (1989). However, a prison may adopt regulations which impinge on an inmate’s constitutional rights if those regulations are “reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89 , 107 S.Ct. 2254, 2261 , 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987). Legitimate penological interests include “security, order, and rehabilitation.” Procunier v.…