Dahne v. Richey
In brief
The Supreme Court refused to hear Dahne's case (denied review), leaving the Ninth Circuit's ruling in place without deciding the First Amendment question.
- Where it stands
- Decided
Decided · May 13, 2019
- What it’s about
- The Supreme Court denied review of a Ninth Circuit decision involving a Washington prison officer who told an inmate to remove threatening, abusive, and irrelevant language from a grievance.
- Who it affects
- The denial left the Ninth Circuit's ruling in place for this case. It did not endorse either side's arguments or decide whether the First Amendment protects this grievance language.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
The denial left the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in favor of the inmate in place, without the Supreme Court deciding the First Amendment issue on the merits.
The case raised a conflict between prison grievance rules and First Amendment protections, but the Supreme Court ended its involvement without resolving it.
Question presented
Do prison inmates have a First Amendment right to include threatening, abusive, and irrelevant language in grievances?
What the Court decided
Holding
Petition DENIED. Justice Alito, with whom Justice Thomas and Justice Kavanaugh join, dissenting from denial of certiorari. (Detached Opinion )
What's next
The Supreme Court has finished its action on this petition. The Ninth Circuit's ruling remains in place, but there is no Supreme Court decision on the First Amendment issue.
Documents
Opinions
Key filings
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
AI analysis generated: Decision Record
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Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
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Opinion added: Opinion
Brief added: Petition
More questions
- What was Dahne v. Richey about?
- It concerned whether an inmate had a First Amendment right to include threatening, abusive, and irrelevant language in a grievance after a Washington officer told him to remove it.
- Did the Supreme Court decide the First Amendment question?
- No. It declined review (denied Dahne's petition) and did not decide the legal question.
- What happened to the Ninth Circuit's ruling?
- The denial left the ruling in place for this case, but the Supreme Court did not endorse either side's arguments.
- Who disagreed with refusing review?
- Justice Alito disagreed with refusing review; Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh joined him in that disagreement.
- What happens next after the denial?
- The Supreme Court's action on this petition is complete. The Ninth Circuit's ruling remains in place.
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.