Nordstrom v. Ryan’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 federal appellate · 3 district · 1 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 30 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A prison is no ordinary gated community. It’s a tough place. Corrections officials obviously have good reason to be on the lookout for contraband, escape plans, and other mischief that could jeopardize institutional security. Officials likewise have every right to inspect an inmate’s outgoing legal mail for such suspicious features as maps of the prison yard, the times of guards’ shift changes, and the like. Prison officials know what to look for.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 128 F. Supp. 3d 1201 - Nordstrom v. Ryan

2. “In American criminal law, the right to privately confer with counsel is nearly sacrosanct. It is obvious to us that a policy or practice permitting prison officials to not just inspect or scan, but to read an inmate’s letters to his counsel is highly likely to inhibit the sort of candid communications that the right to counsel and the attorney-client privilege are meant to protect.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 128 F. Supp. 3d 1201 - Nordstrom v. Ryan

3. “We emphasize that nothing prevents the ADC from inspecting an inmate’s outgoing mail, in his presence, to make sure that it does not contain, for example, a map of the prison yard, the time of guards’ shift changes, escape plans, or contraband. What the Constitution does not permit, however, is reading outgoing attorney-client correspondence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 128 F. Supp. 3d 1201 - Nordstrom v. Ryan