73 N.Y.2d 103 (1989)

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Prison regulations that impinge on inmates’ constitutional rights are valid if reasonably related to legitimate penological interests, balancing inmates’ rights against institutional needs and objectives.

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Summary

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Gomez, an inmate, challenged New York Department of Correctional Services regulations requiring certain outgoing mail to be unsealed for inspection and prohibiting the inclusion of material not intended for the addressee. He argued these rules violated his First Amendment rights. The Court of Appeals held that while these regulations did implicate First Amendment interests, they were constitutional because they were reasonably related to legitimate penological interests such as preventing fraud and unauthorized correspondence. The court emphasized the need to balance inmates’ rights with the institution’s security and rehabilitation goals.

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Facts

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Gomez, an inmate at Green Haven Correctional Facility, had three letters rejected by the prison correspondence department. First, a sealed letter to Time Life Books was rejected for violating a regulation requiring business mail to be unsealed. Second, a letter to Ms. Sheela Wood with a disbursement form and a sealed letter for a potential pen pal was rejected because it contained material not intended for the addressee (