Gary D. Carpenter v. State of South Dakota

STEPHENSON, Circuit Judge.

Three inmates of the South Dakota Penitentiary appeal from the district court’s dismissal of their petition seeking damages and equitable relief.1 Petitioners challenge the prison censorship board’s ban on the receipt by prisoners of mail containing sexually explicit material.2

*761The district court dismissed the petition as frivolous, without a hearing and without requiring a response from the defendants. The district court found:

The application clearly shows that Plaintiffs were given written notice that certain mail items were being rejected. Petitioners were granted…