United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED August 30, 2023 No. 22-50634 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

Lana Calhoun,

Plaintiff—Appellant,

versus

Bryan Collier; Jennifer Cosby, and her successor in interest; Karen Stroleny,

Defendants—Appellees. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 6:20-CV-380 ______________________________

Before Wiener, Graves, and Douglas, Circuit Judges. James E. Graves, Jr., Circuit Judge: The issue before the court is whether Linda Calhoun, an inmate incarcerated in Gatesville, Texas, has a right to be heard before the prison decides whether to approve or deny her request to transfer money from her inmate trust account to an outside bank account. The district court answered no and granted summary judgment to the Appellees. We REVERSE. Case: 22-50634 Document: 00516877725 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/30/2023

No. 22-50634

Factual Background When entering the prison facility in Gatesville, Texas, all inmates are given a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (“TDCJ”) handbook which lays out the rules for transferring money from one offender to another through an outside person. Rule AD-14.62, authored by Bryan Collier—the executive director of the TDCJ—and not provided to inmates, states that offenders shall not provide money to other offenders. The TDJC handbook “encourage[s]” inmates with extra savings “to open a savings account with a banking facility of their choice.” However, it also provides that a deposit from an offender to another offender, processed through an outside person, is a violation of TDCJ rules and will result in an investigation; confirmed violations may result in disciplinary action. Due to a settlement in a civil matter, Calhoun had an inmate trust fund worth nearly $100,000.00. In December of 2019, Calhoun made a suspicious withdrawal, and Appellee Jennifer Cosby, a former senior warden, notified her that she was under investigation for trafficking and trading by sending money to outside persons who were then depositing money to the trust fund accounts of other inmates. Shortly after, Calhoun was found guilty of the lowest level of rule violation. Calhoun now asserts that, years later, she has submitted approximately three or four separate withdrawal requests to TDCJ, which were all denied without notice or an opportunity to be heard in violation of her procedural due process rights. Procedural Background Proceeding pro se, Calhoun filed this suit on May 11, 2020 and filed her amended complaint on June 11, 2020. On July 2, 2020, the district court dismissed the case for failure to state a claim on the ground that state tort law provided a meaningful post-deprivation remedy. On September 13, 2021, this

2 Case: 22-50634 Document: 00516877725 Page: 3 Date Filed: 08/30/2023

No. 22-50634

court vacated that judgment, determining Calhoun’s allegations may s