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Unlawful to Read Legal Mail in Prisoner's Cell
Loaded on May 15, 1993
published in Prison Legal News
May, 1993, page 3
Robert Proudfoot is a Pennsylvania state prisoner. After anonymous informants stated Proudfoot was selling drugs from his cell, prison guards searched his cell three times in eight days. No drugs were found. During one of three cell searches guards opened sealed and stamped envelopes addressed to a federal judge and …
Filed under:
Cell Searches,
Court Access,
Legal Materials,
Damages,
Qualified Immunity,
Legal Mail.
Location:
Pennsylvania.
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More from this issue:
- Search Victory for Women Cons, by Gini Faller
- Prison Rule Banning Media Mail/Visits Held Unconstitutional
- Sexually Harassing Pat Searches May Be Illegal
- Comic Book Censorship Overturned
- ACLU Challenges NJ DOC Censorship
- Improved Jail Conditions Merits Attorney Fees
- Due Process Protects Detainees from Violence
- Unlawful to Read Legal Mail in Prisoner's Cell
- Court Dissolves 1-800 Injunction
- Court Enjoins Torture of Jail Prisoners
- Guard Convicted of Beating Prisoner
- Psych Prisoners Have Right of Court Access
- Damages Awarded in PA Beating and Walk
- Organizations Not "Persons" for IFP Status
- DOC Guard Liable for Not Stopping Beating
- Unsworn Declarations Admissible
- Prison Officials Liable for Haircuts
- Retaliatory Denial of Parole Actionable Under Section 1983
- Prison Officials Liable for Holding Inmate Past Release Date
- Section 1983 Proper Remedy for Illegal Confinement
- Court Bans Double Celling of New Prisoners
- Transfers May Violate Eighth Amendment
- WA Prisoners Lose Damages in Rectal Probe Suits
- Road Kill For Washington Prisons
- Minimum Wage for Cons Studied by Congress
- PLN Editor Wins Retaliation Suit, by Paul Wright
- Mentally Ill Entitled to Health Care
- Monroe Double Celling Suit Lost, by Ed Mead
- Failure to Treat Illness Violates Eighth Amendment
- MANCI: The Aftermath, by John Perotti
- Minn. Prison Signs Contract for Puerto Rican Inmates
- Editorial, by Ed Mead
- Criminal Justice System Unfair to Radical Activist, by Jon George
- Bombed-out German Prison to be Razed and then Rebuilt
- Brazilian Cops Charged in Prison Massacre
More from these topics:
- Fourth Circuit Revives North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit Blaming Lazy Guards for Assault by Detainee, May 1, 2026. Failure to Protect (General), Qualified Immunity, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Deliberate Indifference.
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Liability but Reverses Damages in Lawsuit Over Illinois Warden and Investigator Using Prisoner as Bait to Catch Staff Member Raping Her, May 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Damages, Evidentiary Ruling, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- $2.75 Million Paid by Washington County and NaphCare for Jail Detainee’s Suicide, April 1, 2026. Naphcare, Qualified Immunity, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Suicides, Deliberate Indifference.
- ICE Settles Suit Over Opening Detainees’ Legal Mail, April 1, 2026. Legal Mail, Attorney Visits, First Amendment, rights, Immigration Detention, Attorney/Client.
- $10.3 Million Paid for Teen’s Death at Kansas Juvenile Detention Facility, April 1, 2026. Restraints, Qualified Immunity, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Wrongful Use of Force.
- Ohio Supreme Court Awards Prisoner $1,000 for Denied Records Request, April 1, 2026. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Damages, Public Records, Public Records Act.
- Like Prisoners, Most Jail Detainees Now Banned from Receiving Physical Mail, March 1, 2026. Jail Specific, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail, Censorship, Digital Devices, Private Phone Contractors.
- Eighth Circuit Revives Case Against Guards Who Failed to Intervene As Chaplain Sexually Assaulted Arkansas Prisoner, March 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Prison Rape Elimination Act, Qualified Immunity, Failure to Train/Supervise.
- Mail Went Digital in Alabama Prisons. Families Are Saying Their Mail Isn’t Being Delivered, March 1, 2026. Mail Regulations, Legal Mail, First Amendment, rights, Access To Courts, Access to Computers.
- Sixth Circuit Revives Michigan Prisoner’s Challenge to Guard Tackle That Broke His Foot, March 1, 2026. Evidentiary Ruling (Disciplinary Hearings), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Summary Judgment, Qualified Immunity, Wrongful Use of Force.

