Bradley

Jeff Bradley, an Oregon prisoner, sued Frank Hall, the director of the Oregon Department of Corrections (“ODOC”) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to challenge the constitutional validity of prison regulations prohibiting the use of “hostile, sexual, abusive or threatening” language, Or.Admin.R. 291-105-015(2)(f) and (g). Bradley contended that subjecting him to discipline under these rules for his use of disrespectful language in a written prison complaint form violated his right to petition for redress of grievances. The district court denied the director’s motion for summary judgment, granted Bradley’s cross-motion for summary judgment, and enjoined the ODOC from punishing Bradley for the wording of his written grievance under any of the ODOC disrespect rules, except to the extent that his grievance may include criminal threats. The district court found that the challenged regulations, though facially valid, were unconstitutional as applied to the contents of prisoner grievances. The director appeals and we affirm.

BACKGROUND

When a prison guard failed to retrieve Bradley from his room for his law library call-out as the guard promised, Bradley submitted a written grievance to the…