Sheldon Glasshofer v. William C. Sennett, Atty. Gen. Of Pennsylvania

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Sheldon Glasshofer v. William C. Sennett, Atty. Gen. Of Pennsylvania, 444 F.2d 106 (3d Cir. 1971)
1971 U.S. App. LEXIS 9522

Sheldon Glasshofer v. William C. Sennett, Atty. Gen. Of Pennsylvania

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

PER CURIAM:

This appeal is from the dismissal, without hearing, of appellant’s civil rights complaint. The district court fairly capsulized appellant’s position: “that the [prison] institution’s officials are hampering him from compiling his own individual law library.” Appellant has not complained that he has been denied access to the prison library. Moreover, the district court found that he “has not been denied access to this court since we recently considered and denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus * * * wherein he presented eight grounds for relief.”

In Gittlemacker v. Prasse, 428 F.2d 1, 6-7 (3 Cir. 1970), we found that regulations prohibiting a prisoner from having a law library in his cell did not state a claim under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U. S.C. § 1983:

Appellant also attacks prison rules which prohibit an inmate from main *107 taining a prívate law library in his cell. * * *
Access to the courts is guaranteed by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. But prison regulations which reasonably limit the times, places and manner in which inmates may engage in legal research and preparation of legal papers do not transgress this constitutional protection so long as the regulations do not frustrate this access. Johnson v. Avery, 393 U.S. 483, 89 S.Ct. 747, 21 L.Ed.2d 718 (1968).

The judgment of the district court will be affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
Sheldon GLASSHOFER, Appellant, v. William C. SENNETT, Atty. Gen. of Pennsylvania, Et Al.
Status
Published