United States Second Circuit

In a prisoner civil rights action, district court's grant of summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's First Amendment retaliation claim fails as a matter of law as entreaties to activity such as petitions protesting prison conditions are not entitled to First Amendment protection where other less disruptive means of airing grievances are available; and 2) plaintiff's claims that defendant violated his due process rights are without merit as any error on the part of the corrections officer assigned to assisting plaintiff was harmless in light of defendant's owns failures.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/06/2009
• Published 07/06/2009

Judges

• JOSÉ A. CABRANES, Circuit Judge:, Before:  MINER, CABRANES, Circuit Judges, and STEIN, District Judge.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Prince Pilgrim, Dannemora, NY, pro se.


• For Appellees:
  
• Marion R. Buchbinder, Assistant Solicitor General (Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General, and Peter Karanjia, Special Counsel to the Solicitor General) for Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General of the State of New York, New York, NY, for defendants-appellees.