§ 3.1.4 Jails/Inmate Mail
In State v. Martinez, 221 Ariz. 383, 212 P.3d 75 (App. 2009) (Div. 2), the court of appeals reiterated that prison officials may read a defendant’s mail and search his cell, and prison inmates and pretrial detainees lack an expectation of privacy in jail cells. See also State v. Apelt, 176 Ariz. 349, 364, 649, 861 P.2d 634 (1993) (defendant has no expectation of privacy in non-legal letters and notes seized from a jail cell); State v. Moorman, 154 Ariz. 578, 584, 744 P.2d 679, 685 (1987) (the “Fourth Amendment proscription against unreasonable searches does not apply within the confines of the prison cell because prisoners have no reasonable expectation of privacy,” so “neither prison authorities nor police needed a warrant to search Moorman’s cell or, in this case, dormitory-like area”) (quoting Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 526-31 (1984)). But see State v. Pecard, 196 Ariz. 371, 998 P.2d 453 (App. 1999) (Div. 1) (officials cannot seize legal materials from cell or interfere with privileged mail). See also Stevenson v. Koskey, 877 F.2d 1435, 1443 n.2 (9th Cir. 1989) (authorities may not read legal mail).
A pretrial detainee has no Fourth Amendment right to be present when his cell and belongings in it are searched. Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S....
