Wright v. Lassiter

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA

ASHEVILLE DIVISION

CIVIL CASE NO. 1:18-cv-90-KDB

KAYIE SHAUNE WRIGHT, )

)

Plaintiff, )

)

vs. )

) ORDER

KENNETH LASSITER, et al., )

)

Defendants. )

__________________________________ )

THIS MATTER comes before the Court to document the Court’s ruling dismissing

Plaintiff Kayie Shaune Wright’s First Amendment claim against Defendant Adam J. Hergenrother

during trial of this matter.

Plaintiff Wright filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging certain

unlawful conduct by officials at a facility at which he was previously incarcerated. He is

proceeding in forma pauperis. Among his claims, Mr. Wright asserts that Defendant Hergenrother

opened three pieces of the Plaintiff’s legal mail outside of his presence thereby violating his rights

under the First Amendment. (Doc. No. 13 at 24). This claim came before the Court for trial on

June 8, 2022.1 In discussion with the Court prior to the presentation of evidence, the Plaintiff

clarified that he only wished to proceed with regards to one of those pieces of mail, i.e., a letter

marked “Confidential Mail” that is addressed to the “NC Judicial Standards Commission” in

Raleigh, North Carolina. (Doc. No. 66-36 at 19-20). The Court thereafter gave the Plaintiff the

1 A First Amendment religion claim was also before this Court for trial, but it was voluntarily

dismissed by the Plaintiff.

opportunity to proffer all the evidence he would seek to present to the jury with respect to this

claim.

After considering the Plaintiff’s statements and carefully reviewing the mail at issue, the

Court ruled orally that the letter is not “legal mail” as a matter of law because the letter at issue

did not involve confidential legal communications but rather was a non-privileged communication

to the NC Judicial Standards Commission (even though as a lay person Plaintiff Wright considered

the letter to be “legal” in nature). See, e.g., Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974) (addressing

the opening of attorney-prisoner mail); Haze v. Harrison, 961 F.3d 654, 656 (4th Cir. 2020)

(addressing the opening of attorney-pretrial detainee mail); see also Webb v. Butler, 2021 WL

4447629, *11 n.13 (E.D.N.C. Sept, 28, 2021) (“The court is aware of no authority extending the

protections to mail the inmate himself deems legal in nature regardless of the addressee”); NCDPS

Policy & Procedure, Inmate Use of the Mail 3.0308(b) (defining “Legal Mail” as “Mail to and

from attorneys, state and federal courts, the Attorney General of the United States or the Attorney

General of North Carolina, the judiciary, and the Industrial Commission, consular officials, or

legal aid services or a paralegal”).

Furthermore, the Court finds that Defendant Hergenrother is entitled to qualified immunity

on this claim because it is not clearly established that an inmate letter marked “confidential” that

is addressed to the Judicial Standards Commission qualifies as “legal mail,” such that its opening

outside of the Plaintiff’s presence would violate the First Amendment. See Wolff, 418 U.S. at 539;

Haze, 961 F.3d at 656.

Thus, the Court finds that Defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because

even if the Plaintiff were able to demonstrate that Defendant Hergenrother had opened and

inspected that letter outside of the Plaintiff’s presence, that conduct is not wrongful because the

letter is not protected “legal mail” as discussed above. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a)(1), (2) Gudgment

as a matter of law may be entered at any time before the case is submitted to the jury); see also 28

U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)Gi) (in an in forma pauperis proceeding, “the court shall dismiss the case

at any time if the court determines that ... the action ... fails to state a claim upon which relief can

be granted.”) (emphasis added).

IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the Plaintiff's First Amendment claim against

Defendant Hergenrother is DISMISSED.

Signed: June 9, 2022

Kenneth D. Bell ey,

United States District Judge il of