Lashley v. Wakefield.

U.S. District Court

LEGAL ASSISTANCE

JAILHOUSE LAWYER

RETALIATION

Lashley v. Wakefield, 367 F.Supp.2d 461 (W.D.N.Y. 2005). A prison inmate sued officials claiming deprivation of his Eighth Amendment rights. The district court entered partial summary judgment in favor of the defendants. The court held that summary judgment was precluded by material issues of fact as to whether prison officers subjected the inmate to lockdown, frequent cell searches and other forms of discipline, in retaliation for his work as a prison library clerk and his filing of numerous grievances. The court noted that prison inmates are protected, under the Eighth Amendment, from cell searches that lack any legitimate penological interest and are solely intended to harass. The inmate had been assisting other inmates with legal research and writing in the prison library. (Five Points Correctional Facility, New York)