Martinez v. Beard CA1/2
Appellant Manuel Martinez is a prisoner, now at Centinela State Prison in Imperial. Earlier, while he was at Pelican Bay State Prison, Martinez ordered a book, Sword Song I: Sisterhood of Steel (2008) (the book). The prison officials confiscated it, on the basis it depicted nude paintings and violence.
In October 2015, Martinez filed a petition for writ of mandate, prohibition, or declaratory relief, naming two defendants: Jeffrey Beard, then the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (the Department), and C.E. Ducart, warden of Pelican Bay. The petition alleged that the book was confiscated based on an invalid regulation (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 3006, subd. (c)(17)), and that it was confiscated because it depicted nude and partially nude women and acts of violence. The petition also challenged the confiscation as “an infringement on his statutory rights” and “the overbroad policy of not allowing inmates to view confiscated items.”
Comments on Martinez v. Beard CA1/2