Newell

Newell is an inmate in an Alaska state correctional center. He sued prison officials, alleging that they violated his civil rights by confiscating legal materials from his cell. The district court ruled that the officials were not entitled to assert a qualified immunity defense. They filed an interlocutory appeal. 1 We affirm.

I. Background

Newell was a prison law librarian. He kept a computer in his cell, as all inmates were permitted to do. In March, 1989, prison guard Hartzler entered his cell and seized 59 pages of computer-generated, rough-draft legal materials that Newell had written on behalf of another inmate.

Hartzler filed an incident report indicating that Newell had violated prison regulation 22 AAC 05.400(d)(7), which proscribes possessing “anything not authorized for retention or receipt by the prisoner, and not issued through regular facility channels.” The prison’s disciplinary committee found Newell guilty and gave him a verbal reprimand. The infraction became part of his record, which is subject to parole board review.

Newell appealed the reprimand, arguing that the disciplinary action violated his First Amendment and due process rights. After exhausting his…