Legal Juice
A Texas Inmate named George Morgan filed a habeas petition, which the state moved to dismiss. This didn’t sit well with Mr. Morgan. So he wrote a note to assistant U.S. attorney Susan San Miguel on toilet paper. What did the note say? As reported by Courthouse News Service:
“Dear Susan, Please use this to wipe your ass, that argument was a bunch of shit! You[rs] Truly, George Morgan.”
Ba da bing. Ba da boom.
One of Miguel’s co-workers returned the note to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, where Morgan is incarcerated.
And?
Morgan was charged with using vulgar language and was punished with a loss of 15 days of credit earned for good behavior.
Morgan appealed, arguing that the punishment violated his right to free speech. And he … lost.
Judge Jolly acknowledged that prisoners have certain First Amendment rights, but said those rights are restricted by the state’s interest in rehabilitating the prisoner.
“Morgan’s note demonstrated a completely unjustified disrespect for authority, expressed in the most unacceptably vulgar form, which would be offensive in mainstream society,” Jolly wrote.
“It would not be tolerated from a peer member of the bar, and would not be tolerated from a pro se litigant in the free setting.”
Here’s the source.