11th Circuit Nixes Punitives for Reading Legal Mail Outside Inmate's Presence
Serving a life term in the slaying of a Georgia deputy, a militant once known as H. Rap Brown of the Black Panthers has the right to have legal mail from his wife, who is an attorney, opened in his presence.
But the inmate now known as Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin can’t claim punitive damages for the alleged repeated violation of this right by his jailers, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held in an opinion (PDF) today.
Deciding an interlocutory appeal of a federal district court’s ruling in a motion in limine that punitive damages could not be awarded, the appellate panel agreed with the lower court that the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 precludes such an award, absent a physical or “actual” injury from the violation of the legal mail rules.
Hat tip: Associated Press.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Jail Mail from Attorney Must Be Opened in Inmate’s Presence, 7th Circuit Says”
ABAJournal.com: “Jail Officials Read Legal Mail & May Record Lawyers, Says Defense in Guard Murder Case”
