Shaw v. Murphy

United States Supreme Court

532 U.S. 223 (2001)

Relevant factsFree

Inmate law clerk Murphy (defendant) was disciplined for sending a fellow inmate an unsolicited letter offering legal advice about pending assault charges, in violation of prison correspondence policy; the court of appeals held that policy violated the First Amendment as applied to legal-assistance communications, and prison officer Shaw (plaintiff) sought review.

IssueFree

Whether the constitutional protections for prisoners' communications to other inmates requiring restrictions to be reasonably related to legitimate penological interests apply to communications of legal advice.

Holding & reasoning

The court resolved the question by applying the controlling rule to the facts and explaining precisely why the outcome followed. Its reasoning ties the doctrine to the record so you can reproduce the analysis on an exam.

Procedural history, concurrence & dissent

This section traces the case from the trial court through appeal and lays out how each opinion lands. Separate writings sharpen the majority's limits and flag the arguments most likely to resurface in class.

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