Opinion
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S REQUEST FOR TRANSFER [Doc. No. 33]
LOUISA S PORTER, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff is state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On January 8, 2007, Plaintiff filed a request for transfer to a different institution. Plaintiff requests a transfer because (1) conducting discovery from his present institution is difficult as a pro se litigant, (2) he has limited access to the telephone, and (3) he has limited access to the law library.
Prisoners have no constitutional right to incarceration in a particular institution. Olim v. Wakinekona , 461 U.S. 238, 244-48 (1983); Meachum v. Fano , 427 U.S. 215, 224 (1976). A prisoner's liberty interests are sufficiently extinguished by his conviction that the state may generally confine or transfer him to any of its institutions without offending the Constitution. See Rizzo v. Dawson , 778 F.2d 527, 530 (9th Cir. 1985) (intrastate prison transfer does not implicate Due Process Clause).
Prisoners have a constitutional right of access to the courts. See Lewis v. Casey , 518 U.S. 343, 346 (1996); Bounds v. Smith , 430 U.S. 817, 821 (1977). However, the right of access to the courts is only a right to bring complaints to the federal court and not a right to discover such claims or to litigate them effectively once filed with a court. See Lewis , 518 U.S. at 354-55; Madrid v. Gomez , 190 F.3d 990, 995 (9th Cir. 1999); Cornett v. Donovan , 51 F.3d 894, 898 (9th Cir. 1995) ("[W]e conclude the Supreme Court has clearly stated that the constitutional right of access requires a state to provide a law library or legal assistance only during the pleading stage of a habeas or civil rights action.").
Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to incarceration in a particular institution. While Plaintiff asserts that conducting discovery at his present institution would be difficult, Plaintiff's constitutional right of access to the courts does not include a right to discover his claims or to litigate them effectively once his complaint is filed with the court. Accordingly, Plaintiff's request for transfer is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.