Vandelft

Opinion by Judge T.G. NELSON; Dissent by Judge CANBY.

OVERVIEW

In this appeal by Washington state prisoner William Vandelft, we are asked to decide whether a prisoner alleging denial of access to adequate library facilities must show actual injury to court access as a part of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against prison officials. We hold that he must show injury, and affirm the grant of summary judgment in favor of the prison officials.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Vandelft was sentenced by the Washington State Superior Court on January 18, 1991, after pleading guilty to several felony charges. The deadline for filing a collateral attack in state court was January 18, 1992, under Wash.Rev.Code § 10.78.090.

On February 21,1991, while in the custody of the state prison system at Shelton, Washington, Vandelft received an infraction with a sanction of ten days segregation. On March 19, he was transferred to the Clallam Bay Corrections Center (CBCC) for reasons unrelated to the infraction. On March 22, Van-delft filed a personal restraint petition in state court challenging the infraction.

On April 9, the state court sent Vandelft a notice that he would have twenty days to reply…

dissenting:

With all due respect, I cannot agree with the majority’s conclusion that Vandelft is required to show “actual injury” in the form of a specific instance of denial of access to court, to maintain his section 1983 due process claim.

As the majority opinion acknowledges, our court has held that no showing of “actual injury” is required when there is a failure of prison authorities to meet at least one of the two “core requirements” of Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817 , 97 S.Ct. 1491 , 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977). Sands v. Lewis, 886 F.2d 1166 (9th Cir.1989). Those two core requirements are the alternatives of “providing prisoners with adequate law libraries or adequate assistance from persons trained in the law.” Bounds, 430 U.S. at 828 , 97 S.Ct. at 1498 (footnote omitted). It is undisputed that the prison here did not provide the assistance of persons trained in the law, so the issue is whether Vandelft has made a showing that the prison authorities violated Bounds’s requirement of “providing prisoners with adequate law libraries.” Id. It is worth emphasizing the precise wording of Bounds . The constitutional duty of the prison authorities is not simply to “have adequate law…