Prisoner’s Grievances are Protected by First Amendment

A prisoner’s letter to the warden seeking redress was protected under the First Amendment, making summary judgment against the prisoner’s civil suit against a guard premature without proper discovery procedures 

 Ogurek v. Gabor, 2016 BL 205005, 7th Cir., No. 15-1151, 6/27/16.

   The Seventh Circuit ruled that a prisoner’s petition for redress prevents summary judgment in prisoners’ grievance cases when evidence central to the case is being withheld by a government official. The prisoner plaintiff was beaten up in a prison fight and later asked the defendant to investigate the fight from surveillance footage. The defendant responded by claiming to have watched the fight, but found that the plaintiff started it. The defendant later filed a disciplinary action, which the plaintiff appealed. During the appeal, the plaintiff requested the surveillance video, but before the discovery was made, the defendant motioned for summary judgment, which the judge granted.
 

   The court first addressed the First Amendment issue, finding that the letter to the warden was a petition for a redress of grievances, thereby making the disciplinary action by the investigator for the complaint a violation of the plaintiff’s constitutional rights. Additionally, the court found that the trial judge erred in not allowing the discovery of the video surveillance that would have either supported the plaintiff’s claim or the defendant’s disciplinary action.

http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2016/D06-27/C:15-1151:J:Posner:aut:T:fnOp:N:1780753:S:0