[0] U.S. Appeals Court: RULES.

Murphy v. Shaw, 195 F.3d 1121 (9th Cir. 1999). An inmate law clerk filed a [sections] 1983 action for injunctive and declaratory relief alleging he was punished in violation of his constitutional rights for sending a letter containing legal advice to another inmate. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants and the inmate appealed. The appeals court reversed and remanded with instructions. The appeals court held that the inmate was acting as a law clerk when he wrote the letter to another inmate and that the punishment imposed for sending the letter was an exaggerated response that violated the inmate's First Amendment rights. According to the court the letter was speech that would, outside the prison context, enjoy First Amendment protection, and the fact that such speech occurred within the prison wall did not take it entirely outside the reach of the First Amendment. The court noted that although the inmate was not formally assigned by the prison's law librarian to serve as the other i nmate's law clerk, he knew that counsel had been appointed for the other inmate and the letter was plainly related to the charges pending against the other inmate. (Montana State Prison)