Clement v. California Department of Corrections

Plaintiff/Appellee Frank Clement, an inmate at Pelican Bay State Prison (“Pelican Bay”), alleges in this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action that his First Amendment rights were violated by Pelican Bay’s enforcement of its policy prohibiting inmates from receiving mail containing material downloaded from the internet. The district court denied the motion for summary judgment by the defendants/appellants, the California Department of Corrections and the individual corrections officials (collectively, “CDC”). The district court then sua sponte granted summary judgment for Clement and issued a permanent, statewide injunction against the enforcement of the internet mail policy. CDC appeals. We affirm the district court’s judgment and uphold the injunction.

I.

In 2001, Pelican Bay adopted an internet-generated mail policy that provided: “No Internet Mail. After reviewing staffing levels and security issues internet mail will not be allowed. To do so would jeopardize the safety and security of the institution.” The policy prohibits only mail containing material that has been downloaded from the internet but is not violated if information from the internet is retyped or copied into a document…