Prison Legal News v. Washington State Department of Corrections

MEMORANDUM *

Plaintiffs-appellants Prison Legal News (“PLN”), The Seattle Weekly, and Jennifer Vogel appeal from the district court’s decision dismissing their claims for monetary, declaratory, and injunctive relief based on a finding of qualified immunity. *731 We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

The district court properly concluded that the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity for their decision to prohibit all Washington State inmate subscribers from receiving the May 1999 edition of the PLN. “Law enforcement officers ... enjoy qualified immunity from civil damage suits unless their conduct violates ‘clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.’ ” Schwenk v. Hartford, 204 F.3d 1187, 1195-96 (9th Cir. 2000) (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 , 102 S.Ct. 2727 , 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)). The PLN May 1999 edition contained a reprint of an article entitled, “Black Guard, White Guard: Racism in Washington Continues,” which was authored by Vogel and was originally published in The Seattle Weekly. Because the article contains the names of correctional employees who…