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Unopened mail must go through

Most of the names in these stories have been changed to protect privacy.

One of the basic of rights of people in institutions is to get mail from their attorney - unopened and without delay.

Hospital police block document

During a visit to Napa State Hospital, Suzanna Gee handed her client some confidential documents. Hospital police took the documents away from Gee's client and handed them back to Gee. When asked why, the police insisted that Gee's client, Wally Green (not his real name) could not take any documents back to his room.

Attorney calls for change in policy

Gee, an associate managing attorney in our Sacramento office, went to the executive director's office at Napa State Hospital. She argued that:

  1. Green had the right to get immediate, confidential information from his attorney;
  2. Attorneys have the right to communicate with their client without interference or unreasonable delay - orally or in writing;
  3. Napa's mail policy, which would require that Gee go back to her office and mail the documents to Green, should not apply;
  4. Napa should change its hospital police procedures to allow for attorney-to-client communication; and
  5. There was no security risk in giving mail directly to a client, as there were safeguards in place between the visiting area and the living area.

Upon return to her office, Gee wrote to Napa State Hospital. In her letter, she outlined in detail how hospital police refused to allow Green to have his mail. She also urged the hospital to review and change its operating procedures.

Letter details new procedure for in-person mail

Napa State Hospital agreed. A letter to Gee from the executive director's assistant set out a new procedure that hospital police are to follow. Under the new procedure:

  • The attorney or hospital police will place documents in an envelope and seal it;
  • Hospital police will call unit staff to pick up the envelope; and
  • Unit staff will deliver the envelope to the client promptly. I would be no question about whether attorneys can give documents to their state hospital clients. And the clients will know that they can expect to get their documents soon after they return to their room from the visiting area.