Schneider v. California Department of Corrections

OPINION

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge.

We must decide whether a State committed an unconstitutional taking by failing to pay interest on funds deposited in prison inmate trust accounts.

I

Paul J. Schneider and the other Plaintiffs-Appellants are current and former state inmates of the California penitentiary system. For security reasons, inmates are not permitted under California law to possess money while in prison. See 15 C.C.R. § 3006(b). Accordingly, the California Department of Corrections (“CDC”) has established two separate types of trust accounts into which personal funds may be placed…