Full opinion text
AMENDED AND SUBSTITUTED MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ON LIABILITY AND QUALIFIED IMMUNITY AND ORDER ON REMEDIES I. INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND..................1319 II. STANDARDS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT.............................1320 III. FINDINGS OF FACT ..................................................1321 A. Parties.............................................................1321 1. Plaintiff.........................................................1321 2. Defendants......................................................1322 B. English-Only Regulation.............................................1322 C. Sisneros’ Transfer Back to Arizona...................................1323 IV. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE ENGLISH-ONLY POLICY.............1324 A. Standard Of Review.................................................1324 1. Introduction: Balancing prisoners’ rights and security..............1324 2. The reasonable relationship test...................................1325 B. Application of the Reasonable Relationship Test.......................1328 1. Facial Constitutional Challenge.......................................1328 2. “As Applied” Constitutional Challenge.................................1331 V. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF SISNEROS’ TRANSFER.....................1333 A. Introduction.........................................................1333 B. Appropriate Standard for Analyzing Sisneros’ Claim of Retaliatory Transfer..........................................................1334 C. Was Sisneros’ Transfer Retaliatory? ..................................1334 VI. QUALIFIED IMMUNITY...............................................1335 A. Standards For Qualified Immunity....................................1335 1. Scope and purpose of qualified immunity..........................1336 2. The court’s inquiry..............................................1337 3. The inquiry on a motion for summary judgment...................1338 B. Qualified Immunity In This Case.....................................1338 1. Retaliatory Transfer .............................................1339 2. The English-Only Rule...........................................1339 VII. RELIEF............................................... 1341 A. Additional Findings Of Fact.......................... 1342 1. Sisneros’ transfer and status in Arizona........... 1342 2. Transfers under the Interstate Corrections Compact 1343 B. Damages ........................................... 1344 C. Injunctive Relief........................'............ 1347 1. Appropriateness-of injunctive relief................ 1348 2. Shaping injunctive relief in this case.............. 1349 3. The permanent injunction........................ 1352 VIII. CONCLUSION ................... 1352 BENNETT, District Judge. Given the crescendo of public uproar over frivolous prisoner litigation clogging the federal courts, this ease is an important reminder that however fortissimo the public clamor, the court must always listen for a solo voice with a legitimate complaint of a constitutional violation. This is such a case. Plaintiff Alfonso R. Sisneros is a former inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary (“ISP”), at Fort Madison, Iowa, who is currently incarcerated in Arizona. Sisneros was transferred from Arizona to Iowa in January of 1991 pursuant to the Interstate Corrections Compact (“ICC”), Iowa Code § 913 (1993). Sisneros claims that while at ISP, his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by Defendants Crispus C. Nix, ISP’s former warden, and Paul Hedgepeth, Deputy Warden of Programs, when Sisneros was prohibited from sending or receiving mail written in a language other than English (the “English-only’ rule). Sisneros speaks English, Spanish, and Apache, but has relatives living in Arizona and Texas who cannot communicate in English. Sisneros also asserts that he was impermissibly transferred from ISP back to the Arizona correctional system in February 1992 in retaliation for exercising his constitutional right to pursue inmate grievances and file suit against ISP officials. On April 7, 1994, this court entered a Memorandum Opinion And Order On Liability And Qualified Immunity, an amended version of which follows. Following the filing of that order, the court held a hearing on the issue of proper relief or remedies on July 8, 1994. Thus, in addition to amending the prior opinion on liability and qualified immunity, the present order determines what remedies shall be afforded Sisneros for the violation of his constitutional rights as the result of his retaliatory transfer back to Arizona. This part of the order requires the court to grapple with the question of its power to impose remedial actions upon a guilty defendant who nonetheless is no longer in control of the wronged person. Thus, the court must consider the extent to which its orders for remedial action can and should be honored by nonparties to the present action, but who, quite literally, hold the keys to vindication of the inmate’s rights.' I. INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Sisneros filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action on September 12, 1991. Sisneros has been represented throughout this action by the University of Iowa College of Law Legal Clinic. On June 25, 1993, the parties filed a consent pursuant to 28 .U.S.C. § 636(c) to proceed before me while I was a United States magistrate judge. Sisneros and the Defendant prison officials have both moved for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. Sisneros seeks a declaratory judgment, declaring the prison’s English-only policy violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Sisneros requests that the court order injunctive relief prohibiting the defendants from continuing to violate his constitutional rights and requiring the defendants to modify the English-only policy. Regarding his transfer back to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Sisneros seeks a declaratory judgment that this action violated his First Amendment right to petition the courts. He also requests injunctive relief ordering the defendants to expedite his return to ISP and restraining the defendants from further violations of his First Amendment right to petition the court. Sisneros seeks actual damages, exemplary damages, and reasonable attorney fees on both claims. Defendants argue that Sisneros has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, that none of the defendants-’ acts violated Sisneros’ constitutional rights, and that the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. Finally, the defendants argue that even if they violated Sisneros’ rights by transferring him back to Arizona in retaliation for his engaging of protected activities, they did not cause any of the damages of which he complains. Before addressing the merits of Sisneros’ assertions that the English-only policy is unconstitutional and that he ,was impermissibly transferred to Arizona in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights, the court will address the appropriate standard for summary judgment under Rule 56. II. STANDARDS FOR. SUMMARY JUDGMENT The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recognizes “that summary judgment is a drastic remedy and must be exercised with extreme care to prevent taking genuine issues of fact away from juries.” Wabun-Inini v. Sessions, 900 F.2d 1234, 1238 (8th Cir.1990). On the other hand, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure -have authorized for nearly 60 years .“motions for summary judgment upon proper showings of the lack of a genuine, triable issue of material fact.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2555, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Thus, “summary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an integral part of the Federal Rules as a whole, which are designed ‘to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action.’ ” Wabun-Inini, 900 F.2d at 1238 (quoting Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)); Hartnagel v. Norman, 953 F.2d 394, 396 (8th Cir. 1992). The standard for granting summary judgment is well established. Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states in pertinent part: Rule 56. Summary-Judgment (b) For Defending Party. A party against whom a claim ... is asserted ... may, at any time, move for summary judgment in the party’s favor as to all or any part thereof. (c) Motions and Proceedings Thereon.... The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(b) & (e) (emphasis added); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Munz v. Michael, 28 F.3d 795, 798 (8th Cir.1994); Roth v. U.S.S. Great Lakes Fleet, Inc., 25 F.3d 707, 708 (8th Cir.1994); Cole v. Bone, 993 F.2d 1328, 1331 (8th Cir.1993); Woodsmith Publishing Co. v. Meredith Corp., 904 F.2d 1244, 1247 (8th Cir.1990); Wabun-Inini, 900 F.2d at 1238 (citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)). A court considering a motion for summary judgment must view all the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, and give that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the facts. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (quoting United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 994, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962)); Munz v. Michael, 28 F.3d 795, 796 (8th Cir.1994); Allison v. Flexway Trucking, Inc., 28 F.3d 64, 66 (8th Cir.1994); Johnson v. Group Health Plan, Inc., 994 F.2d 543, 545 (8th Cir.1993); Burk v. Beene, 948 F.2d 489, 492 (8th Cir.1991); Coday v. City of Springfield, 939 F.2d 666, 667 (8th Cir.1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1094, 112 S.Ct. 1170, 117 L.Ed.2d 416 (1992). Proeedurally, the moving party bears “the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for [its] motion and identifying those portions of the record which show lack of a genuine issue.” Hartnagel, 953 F.2d at 395 (citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552); see also Reed v. Woodruff County, Ark., 7 F.3d 808, 810 (8th Cir.1993). The moving party is not required by Rule 56 to support its motion with affidavits or other similar materials negating the opponent’s claim. Id. “When a moving party has carried its burden under Rule 56(c), its opponent must do more than simply show there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586, 106 S.Ct. at 1356. The party opposing a motion for summary judgment is required under Rule 56(e) to go beyond the pleadings, and by affidavits, or by the “depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file,” designate “specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e); Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553. Although “direct proof is not required to create a jury question, ... to avoid summary judgment, ‘the facts and circumstances relied upon must attain the dignity of substantial evidence and must not be such as merely to create a suspicion.’ ” Metge v. Baehler, 762 F.2d 621, 625 (8th Cir.1985) (quoting Impro Products, Inc. v. Herrick, 715 F.2d 1267, 1272 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1026, 104 S.Ct. 1282, 79 L.Ed.2d 686 (1984)), cert. denied sub nom. Metge v. Bankers Trust Co., 474 U.S. 1057, 106 S.Ct. 798, 88 L.Ed.2d 774 (1986). The necessary proof that the nonmoving party must produce is not precisely measurable, but the evidence must be “such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Allison v. Flexway Trucking, Inc., 28 F.3d 64, 66 (8th Cir.1994). In Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2510, Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323-24, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53, and Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586-87, 106 S.Ct. at 1355-56, the Supreme Court established that a summary judgment motion should be interpreted by the trial court to accomplish its purpose of disposing of factually unsupported claims, and the trial judge’s function is not to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter, but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial. Johnson v. Enron Corp., 906 F.2d 1234, 1237 (8th Cir.1990). The trial court, therefore, must “assess the adequacy of the nonmovants’ response and whether that showing, on admissible evidence, would be sufficient to carry the burden of proof at trial.” Hartnagel, 953 F.2d at 396 (citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. at 2552). If the nonmoving party fails to make a sufficient showing of an essential element of a claim with respect to which it has the burden of proof, then the moving party is “entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552; Woodsmith, 904 F.2d at 1247. However, if the court can conclude that a reasonable trier of fact could return a verdict for the nonmovant, then summary judgment should not be granted. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510; Burk, 948 F.2d at 492; Woodsmith, 904 F.2d at 1247. With these standards in mind, the court turns to consideration of the parties’ motions for summary judgment. III. FINDINGS OF FACT A Parties 1. Plaintiff The record reveals that the following facts are not in dispute. Alfonso Sisneros is a United States citizen, currently serving a 1981 State of Arizona sentence of 25 years to life for assault with a deadly weapon. Sisneros speaks English, as well as Spanish and Apache. Sisneros has indicated in his affidavit in support of his motion for summary judgment that “I am of Apache and Mexican dissent.” Sisneros further indicated that “[m]y first and preferred language is Spanish.” Sisneros also indicated in his affidavit that “[w]hile incarcerated in Arizona, I regularly corresponded with family and friends in Spanish and Apache in conformance with the rules and regulations of the prison.” Pursuant to the Interstate Corrections Compact (“ICC”), Iowa Code § 913 (1993), Sisneros was transferred from Arizona to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center (“IMCC”) in January of 1991. He was then transferred to ISP in February of 1991. At ISP orientation, Sisneros was informed of I.A.C. section 291-20.4(1) (1991), the English-only rule, and its application concerning correspondence to and from his non-English speaking relatives. On February 22, 1991, Sisneros wrote a memorandum to defendant Hedgepeth, informing Hedgepeth of his non-English speaking relatives and requesting an exception to the English-only policy for the purpose of corresponding with these relatives. In the memorandum, Sisneros stated that some of his relatives speak either Spanish or Apache, but not English. Sisneros’ family lives in the southwestern United States, primarily in Texas and Arizona. In particular, Sisneros expressed a desire to write to his grandmother, who speaks Apache. However, the memorandum also stated that Sisneros had relatives who do speak English. Later, in response to an interrogatory, Sisneros, stated that he wished to write only in Spanish, and that only the names of family members and friends would have been written in Apache. On February 25, 1991, Hedgepeth replied to Sisneros’ memorandum. Hedgepeth informed Sisneros that he should have his English-speaking relatives help the other relatives write and interpret letters. On March 11, 1991, Sisneros filed a grievance with the Iowa Department of Corrections regarding the English-only rule. In response, Sisneros received a memorandum reiterating the prison’s policy prohibiting the sending or receiving of letters in foreign languages. Sisneros then filed two lawsuits against ISP. One of the lawsuits was the present one, filed on or about September 12, 1991. The second was a motion for contempt in Walker v. Scurr, Civil Nos. 83-313-D and 84-26-B, on or about November 8, 1991. Only the former litigation is directly under consideration here. 2. Defendants While Sisneros was incarcerated at ISP, defendant Crispus Nix was the Warden and defendant Paul Hedgepeth was the Deputy Warden. Defendant Paul Grossheim was the Director of the Iowa Department of Corrections, but is now deceased. Defendants are being sued both individually, and in their official capacities. Defendants Nix and Hedgepeth acted under the color of state law concerning their actions towards Sisneros. B. English-Only Regulation Iowa Administrative Code section 291.20.4(1) (1991) regarding prisoner correspondence provides, “[Betters will not be delivered which are written in a foreign language or code, unless the foreign language is the only language of the inmate. Exceptions may be made by the warden/superintendent or designee.” ISP has adopted and enforced this code provision in identical form in State of Iowa, Department of Corrections Policy IN-V-64(18), and accordingly prohibits the sending or receiving of letters in languages other than English. This policy also applies to the use of telephones, although there is no restriction prohibiting inmates from speaking in a foreign language to each other. The defendants had no input into the Iowa Administrative Code, but did have input in the adoption of the provision in the prison policy. Incorporating the code into prison policy is standard procedure. The court finds that the primary purpose for the English-only policy is to further legitimate institutional security reasons and to retain the ability to monitor inmate correspondence. The purpose of this policy is to prevent inmates from continuing illegal and clandestine activities while incarcerated. Admittedly, prison officials have never discovered any plans for escape or illegal activity written in a foreign language, but the rule does not allow such correspondence in prison at all, and prisoners are notified of this policy upon entering ISP. Although all non-privileged mail is opened and scanned, only five to ten percent is actually read. There is no written standard giving a percentage of mail which should be monitored more closely. ISP has no interpreter on staff and to hire one would be costly. ISP does employ Hispanics. An informal survey in the past indicated that none of the ISP’s employees was able to speak or write Spanish fluently, but there is no current, accurate record of the capabilities of the ISP’s present employees. The inmate minority population at ISP consists of approximately twenty-five percent African-Americans, a small percentage of Native American Indians, and one or two Asians. Approximately one percent of the prison population at ISP is Hispanic. Although the policy does allow exceptions to be made by the warden or the deputy warden, the only exceptions in the past have been made when an inmate did not speak English. Defendant Hedgepeth indicated that in order for an exception to be granted, there would have to be “no other way for the communication to exist.” C. Sisneros’ Transfer Back to Arizona Sisneros alleges that his transfer in February of 1992 from ISP back to Arizona was made in retaliation for his litigation activity and use of the ISP prison grievance procedure. Not surprisingly, the defendants deny this allegation. On December 26, 1991, Charles Lee, the Deputy Director of the Iowa Department of Corrections, who is not a party to this action, wrote an Arizona official requesting that Arizona find an alternative placement for Sisneros. The stated reason for the request was that Sisneros “doesn’t seem, to like the restrictions placed on him in Iowa and has not been a very cooperative guest.” This letter set the transfer wheels in motion and on February 5, 1992, Sisneros was transferred from ISP back to the Arizona correctional system. Sisneros did not request this transfer nor did he desire to return to Arizona. Hedgepeth was the ISP official who initiated and was primarily responsible for Sisneros’ transfer from ISP back, to Arizona. Sisneros did not have a disciplinary record while at ISP and did not pose a disciplinary problem for the ISP staff. The only reason stated by Nix and Hedgepeth for transferring Sisneros was that he was “unhappy” with some of the.restrictions at ISP and that he was an “obnoxious” and “ungracious” guest. Interestingly, Hedgepeth never met Sisneros, and Nix met him only once — and that was early in 1991 in connection with an inmate grievance filed by Sisneros concerning the English-only rule; Hedgepeth indicated that the only matters Sisneros “complained” of were the English-only rule and a dispute that he was having with a prison official concerning whether Sisneros had sufficient Native American blood to be included within the terms of a consent decree in the Walker litigation. Hedgepeth acknowledges that both of these “complaints” resulted in Sisneros filing grievanees and the two lawsuits Sisneros filed against ISP officials. Additionally, Hedgepeth believed Sisneros was “ungracious” only because he “complained.” Finally, Hedgepeth believed Sisneros was “obnoxious” only because he utilized the ISP grievance procedure. Warden Nix indicated Sisneros was returned to Arizona because he was “unhappy” at ISP. Nix further indicated that the two things Sisneros complained of, problems with practicing his Native American religion and the English-only rule, resulted in litigation and that Nix was aware t>f the litigation prior to Hedgepeth initiating the transfer of Sisneros back to Arizona. The defendants failed to articulate, let alone establish, a nonretaliatory reason for transferring Sisneros back to Arizona in February of 1992. IV. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE ENGLISH-ONLY POLICY A. Standard Of Review 1. Introduction: Balancing prisoners’ rights and security The balance between the rights of the inmates and the maintenance of security must be at the forefront of any review of prison regulation. “[0]n one hand, prisoners do not lose all their constitutional rights while behind bars; on the other hand, federal courts must defer to the judgment of those officials responsible for the inordinately difficult task of operating a prison.” Quinn v. Nix, 983 F.2d 115, 118 (8th Cir.1993) (citing Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 84-85, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 2259-2260, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987); Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 404-05, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 1807-08, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974), overruled in part by Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401, 109 S.Ct. 1874, 104 L.Ed.2d 459 (1989). Prisoners’ constitutional rights are “significantly limited or substantially constrained in order to further legitimate objectives of the penal system,” especially in the interest of security. Nichols v. Nix, 810 F.Supp. 1448, 1455 (S.D.Iowa 1993), aff'd, 16 F.3d 1228 (8th Cir.1994) (Table). However, the prisoners retain those rights which are “not inconsistent with imprisonment itself or incompatible with the objects of incarceration.” Id. “Foremost among these objectives is internal security.” Timm v. Gunter, 917 F.2d 1093, 1099 (8th Cir.1990) (citing Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 524, 104 S.Ct. 3194, 3199, 82 L.Ed.2d 393 (1984))), cert. denied, 501 U.S. 1209, 111 S.Ct. 2807, 115 L.Ed.2d 979 (1991). Thus, when addressing an inmate’s claim of alleged constitutional violations, federal courts “must consider whether the constrictions that prison administrators have placed on inmates’ rights are justified by legitimate institutional concerns.” Gunter, 917 F.2d at 1099. Federal courts must give great deference to the judgment exercised by prison administrator in attempting to strike a balance between the demands of institutional security and the constitutional rights of prisoners. As the Eighth Circuit pointed out in Gunter: Such a balancing act is an exceedingly complex task, and not one easily undertaken by the courts, whose expertise in the imperatives of institutional security is slight and in no way approaches that of the professional administrators charged with the awesome task of running our prisons. Id. at 1099. The deference owed to determinations of prison officials in the interest of security was recently reinforced by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Falls v. Nesbitt, 966 F.2d 375 (8th Cir.1992). In Nesbitt, the court stated “[i]t is fundamental that prison administrators are accorded wide-ranging deference in the adoption and execution of policies and practices that in their judgment are needed to preserve internal order and discipline and to maintain institutional security.” Id. at 379 (citing Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 547, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1878, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979)). This wide-ranging deference to the determinations of prison administrators is not boundless. “It is equally certain that ‘[pjrison walls do not form a barrier separating prison inmates from the protections of the Constitution.’ ” Abbott, 490 U.S. at 407, 109 S.Ct. at 1878 (quoting Turner, 482 U.S. at 84, 107 S.Ct. at 2259). In discharging their duties, federal courts must protect the constitutional rights of prison inmates in the face of a prison regulation or practice which offends a fundamental constitutional guarantee. Johnson v. Avery, 393 U.S. 483, 486, 89 S.Ct. 747, 749, 21 L.Ed.2d 718 (1969); Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 405-06, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 1807-08, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974), overruled in part by Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401, 109 S.Ct. 1874, 104 L.Ed.2d 459 (1989); Turner, 482 U.S. at 84, 107 S.Ct. at 2259. With these general principles in mind, the court will now address the appropriate standard to be applied to Sisneros’ assertion that the English-only rule violates his First Amendment rights. 2. The reasonable relationship test This court’s analysis of Sisneros’ First Amendment claims is governed by the Supreme Court’s decisions in Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987), and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401, 109 S.Ct. 1874, 104 L.Ed.2d 459 (1989). A prison rule or regulation which impinges upon an inmate’s constitutional rights is valid “if it is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” Turner, 482 U.S. at 89, 107 S.Ct. at 2261. In adopting the “reasonable relationship” test, Justice O’Connor observed “[o]ur task ... is to formulate a standard of review of prisoners’ constitutional claims that is responsive both to the ‘policy of judicial restraint regarding prisoner complaints and [to] the need to protect constitutional rights.’” Id. at 85, 107 S.Ct. at 2259 (quoting Martinez, 416 U.S. at 406, 94 S.Ct. at 1808). The Court opined in Turner that the “reasonable relationship” test was necessary if “prison administrators ..., and not the courts, [are] to make the difficult judgments concerning institutional operations.” Subjecting the day-to-day judgments of prison officials to an inflexible strict scrutiny analysis would seriously hamper their ability to anticipate security problems and to adopt innovative solutions to the intractable problems of prison administration. The rule would also distort the decision making process, for every administrative judgment would be subject to the possibility that some court somewhere would conclude that it had a less restrictive way of solving the problem at hand. Courts inevitably would become the primary arbiters of what constitutes the best solution to every administrative problem, thereby “unnecessarily perpetuat[ing] the involvement of the federal courts in affairs of prison administration.” Id. 482 U.S. at 89, 107 S.Ct. at 2261-2262 (citations omitted). The “reasonable relationship” test articulated in Turner was subsequently applied in Abbott to uphold the facial validity of the Federal Bureau of Prison regulations restricting inmate access to certain publications. Abbott, 490 U.S. at 404, 109 S.Ct. at 1876. In so holding, the Court specifically limited its earlier decision in Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974). Martinez held that the decisions of prison officials concerning censorship of inmates’ incoming and' outgoing correspondence was subject to the “least restrictive means” test, id. at 404-14, 94 S.Ct. at 1807-12, a less deferential approach than the reasonable relationship test. Abbott limited application of the least restrictive means test to prison regulations governing outgoing correspondence only. Abbott, 490 U.S. at 413, 109 S.Ct. at 1881. The Court applied the “reasonable relationship” test in Abbott, rather than the less deferential approach of Martinez, because of its concern that language in Martinez might be too readily understood as establishing a standard of “strict” or “heightened” scrutiny, and that such a strict standard simply was not appropriate for consideration of regulations that are centrally concerned with the maintenance of order and security within prisons. Specifically, the Court declined to apply the Martinez standard in “prisoners’ rights” cases because, as was noted in Turner, Martinez could be (and has been) read to require a strict “least restrictive alternative” analysis, without sufficient sensitivity to the need for discretion in meeting legitimate prison needs. The Court expressed concern that “every administrative judgment would be subject to the possibility that some court somewhere would conclude that it had a less restrictive way of solving the problem at hand,” and rejected the costs of a “least restrictive alternative” rule as too high. Abbott, 490 U.S. at 409-11, 109 S.Ct. at 1879-80 (footnote and. citations omitted). Although the Turner test reflects the need to accord appropriate deference to prison officials, see O’Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342-349, 107 S.Ct. 2400, 2404, 96 L.Ed.2d 282 (1987), its “reasonableness standard is not [a]-toothless [one].” Abbott, 490 U.S. at 414, 109 S.Ct. at 1882; Goodwin v. Turner, 908 F.2d 1395, 1403 (8th Cir.1990). In articulating the “reasonable relationship” test, the Court in Turner canvassed its earlier “prisoners’ rights” cases, and “identified several factors that are relevant to, and that serve to channel, the reasonableness inquiry.” Abbott, 490 U.S. at 414, 109 S.Ct. at 1882. These four factors are: (1) whether there is a rational connection between the restriction and the legitimate governmental interest used to justify it; (2) whether alternative avenues of exercising the right remain open to the inmate; (3) whether accommodation of the right will have an adverse impact on guards, other inmates and prison resources generally; and (4) whether obvious, easy alternatives to the restriction exist. Turner, 482 U.S. at 89-90, 107 S.Ct. at 2261-62; Abbott, 490 U.S. at 414-18, 109 S.Ct. at 1882-84; Blaise v. Fenn, 48 F.3d 337, 339 (8th Cir.1995); Thongvanh v. Thalacker, 17 F.3d 256, 258 (8th Cir.1994); Smith v. Delo, 995 F.2d 827, 829 (8th Cir. 1993). Both the United States Supreme Court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals have emphasized that “[t]his examination focuses upon whether the regulation is rationally related to a legitimate and neutral objective.” Washington v. Harper, 494 U.S. 210, 223, 110 S.Ct. 1028, 1037, 108 L.Ed.2d 178 (1990); Smith v. Delo, 995 F.2d at 829 (citing Abbott, 490 U.S. at 414, 109 S.Ct. at 1882). This standard must be applied even when the “constitutional right claimed to have been infringed is fundamental, and the State under other circumstances would have been required to satisfy a more rigorous standard of review.” Harper, 494 U.S. at 223, 110 S.Ct. at 1037; Goodwin v. Turner, 908 F.2d 1395, 1398-99 (8th Cir.1990). It is in the context of this “reasonable relationship” test that Sisneros’ facial and as applied constitutional challenge to the English-only rule must be measured. Because Sisneros challenges the English-only restriction both on its face and as applied, the court will address each claim separately. B. Application of the Reasonable Relationship Test 1. Facial Constitutional Challenge Sisneros’ constitutional challenge seeks to invalidate the Iowa Administrative Code provision and the ISP policy which prohibits letters written in a language other than English, unless such correspondence is excepted with approval of the appropriate official. Sisneros’ claim is that the regulations violate his First Amendment right to free speech and his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection. Before turning to the merits of Sisneros’ claim that the English-only rule is unconstitutional, the court notes that his heavy reliance upon Ramos v. Lamm, 639 F.2d 559, 581 (10th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 1041, 101 S.Ct. 1759, 68 L.Ed.2d 239 (1981), is misplaced. In Lamm, the Tenth Circuit held that a prison policy prohibiting delivery of mail written in a foreign language was unconstitutional as applied. Lamm is readily distinguishable from this litigation. First, Lamm was decided under the Martinez less deferential “least restrictive” means test, Martinez, 416 U.S. at 404-14, 94 S.Ct. at 1807-12, which has been replaced by the reasonable relationship test. More importantly, a significant number of inmates at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canyon City, Colorado, referred to as “Old Max”, the institution at issue in Lamm, did not speak, read or write in English. Rather, Spanish was the only language by which they could communicate. Lamm, 639 F.2d at 581. Moreover, it appears the regulation in question in Lamm did not provide any exception for inmates where Spanish was the only language they could speak, read or write. Id,. The first factor in the reasonable relationship test is whether the governmental objective behind the regulation is legitimate and neutral, and whether the regulation is rationally related to that objective. Abbott, 490 U.S. at 414, 109 S.Ct. at 1882. To put it another way, analysis of the first Turner factor is twofold: (1) is the objective underlying the regulation or policy neutral and legitimate; and (2) is the regulation or policy rationally related to that objective. Id. Security is clearly a valid penological interest, O’Lone, 482 U.S. at 348, 107 S.Ct. at 2404; Abbott, 490 U.S. at 415, 109 S.Ct. at 1882; Dawson v. Scurr, 986 F.2d 257, 260 (8th Cir.1993), as is rehabilitation. Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S. 817, 823, 94 S.Ct. 2800, 2804, 41 L.Ed.2d 495 (1974); Dawson, 986 F.2d at 260. The prison’s interest in treating all inmates equally is also a legitimate penological interest. Goodwin, 908 F.2d at 1399. The neutrality requirement of this factor in the Turner analysis is met if the regulation furthers “an important or substantial governmental interest unrelated to the suppression of expression.” Abbott, 490 U.S. at 415, 109 S.Ct. at 1882; Dawson, 986 F.2d at 261. Thus, when prison administrators distinguish between communications on the basis of their potential implications for prison security and rehabilitation, their regulation is “neutral.” Dawson, 986 F.2d at 261 (citing Abbott, 490 U.S. at 415-16, 109 S.Ct. at 1882-83). Turning to the relationship between the interest and the regulation, the rational relationship between regulation of communications and security is apparent because “only by discovering the contents of [communications] can prison officials insure that [a communication] containing improper matters is not sent outside the prison.” Smith v. Delo, 995 F.2d at 830. Applying this factor here, the court concludes, first, that the government’s purpose in promulgating the regulation is unquestionably legitimate. The express purpose of the ISP prison policy is to protect prison security, a purpose which is central to all correction goals. Second, as to neutrality, the English-only policy does not suppress expression, but merely goes to the form of that expression. The rational relationship between the ability of prison officials to monitor the prisoner’s correspondence and the security of the prison here is as apparent as it was in Smith v. Delo, 995 F.2d at 830. The second factor under the reasonable relationship test is whether alternative means of exercising that right are available to the inmates. Abbott, 490 U.S. at 417, 109 S.Ct. at 1883. In considering this factor, the right in question “must be viewed sensibly and expansively.” Id.; Dawson, 986 F.2d at 261. It is particularly on this prong of the analysis that “courts should be particularly conscious of the ‘measure of judicial deference owed to corrections officials ... in gauging the validity of the regulation.’” Dawson, 986 F.2d at 261 (quoting Turner, 482 U.S. at 90, 107 S.Ct. at 2262). Thus, the question is not whether there are alternatives for the specific activity the inmate desires to pursue, but whether they have other avenues for exercising the right when that right is “viewed expansively.” For example, in Dawson, the court concluded that there were alternatives to exercise of first amendment privileges where regulations “permitted] a broad range of publications to be sent, received and read,” even though the regulation forbade certain inmates certain sexually explicit materials. Dawson, 986 F.2d at 261. Similarly, in Iron Eyes v. Henry, 907 F.2d 810 (8th Cir.1990), the court rejected a “narrow definition” of “the right” at issue as the right of a Native American Indian to wear his hair long, which was one tenet of his religion; rather, the court concluded that this factor weighed in favor of the regulation at issue where the regulation did not preclude the plaintiff from “practicing some of the tenets of his religion.” Iron Eyes, 907 F.2d at 815. Thus, this factor focuses on the extent the inmate has been deprived of the asserted right, but this circuit’s court of appeals has concluded that the inmate’s deprivation must be balanced against the extent to which prison policy would have to be compromised or the extent of expenditures of prison resources the prison would be required to make in accommodating the right. Goodwin, 908 F.2d at 1400. The English-only regulation has an exception for inmates who do not speak or write English and inmates may appeal to prison officials in light of exceptional circumstances. Also, inmates similarly situated to Sisneros, who can read and write English, have the option of writing their correspondence in English and having it translated by persons or organizations outside the Iowa correctional system. See, e.g., Thongvcmh v. Thalacker, 17 F.3d 256 (8th Cir.1994) (Laotian inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Anamosa, Iowa, allowed to use the Iowa Refugee Center for translating Lao correspondence). The court concludes that there are sufficient alternatives available for the exercise of Sisneros’ right to communicate with his relatives, even in their own language, for this regulation to meet this second factor of the Turner analysis. The third consideration outlined by Turner is whether accommodation of the asserted right will have any adverse impact on other inmates, guards, and prison resources. Turner, 482 U.S. at 90, 107 S.Ct. at 2262. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has characterized the analysis of this factor as “exam-in[ing] the impact on non-prisoners if the regulation were struck down.” Smith v. Delo, 995 F.2d at 831. Where striking down the regulation would have a tremendous impact on prison officials, and potentially a strong impact on others in or outside of the prison, then the regulation should be upheld. Id. In considering this factor in the Turner analysis, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has also considered whether accommodation would require additional expenses for the prison, create a tremendous administrative burden, or require inordinate amounts of administrative staff time, all of which weigh in favor of the regulation. Dawson, 986 F.2d at 262; Iron Eyes, 907 F.2d at 815. Additionally, where accommodation increases the risk to guards, or where it could create prisoner friction and unrest within the facility as the result of giving, or appearing to give, special treatment to one group of prisoners, this factor also weighs in favor of the regulation. Iron Eyes, 907 F.2d at 815. In the present case, if prison officials cannot monitor inmate correspondence because they cannot read or understand it, prison security suffers. The right to correspond in a foreign language could be allowed but “can be exercised only at the cost of significantly less liberty and safety for everyone else, guards and other prisoners alike.” Turner, 482 U.S. at 92, 107 S.Ct. at 2263. Because the ISP does not appear to have staff who could readily monitor communications in either Spanish or Apache, it seems likely that accommodating Sisneros’ desire to communicate in those languages could place a significant burden on prison resources or require an unacceptable amount of staff time. The fourth factor in the reasonable relationship test is whether an obvious, easy alternative to the current regulation exists, and if one does exist, if it can be implemented at a de minimis cost to valid penological interests. Turner, 482 U.S. at 90, 107 S.Ct. at 2262; Iron Eyes, 907 F.2d at 815. “[T]he absence of ready alternatives is evidence of the reasonableness of the regulation.” Turner, 482 U.S. at 90, 107 S.Ct. at 2262. Conversely, obvious and less obtrusive options lead to questions as to the reasonableness of the regulation and the actual purpose of the policy. Id. “[T]he existence of obvious, easy alternatives may be evidence that the regulation is not reasonable, but is an ‘exaggerated response’ to prison concerns.” Id.; Dawson, 986 F.2d at 262. However, where alternatives to the regulation come at more that a de minimis cost to valid penological interests, the regulation should be upheld. Iron Eyes, 907 F.2d at 815-16. The English-only rule appears to be a valid, cost-effective response to a security concern, and not an exaggerated response. It would be costly for ISP to hire interpreters to read foreign language correspondence and, thus, effectively maintain the security at ISP. While there may be alternative options available to the ISP officials, see, e.g., Thongvanh, 17 F.3d at 259, Sisneros has failed to adduce evidence on this question and has, thus, failed to establish the existence of ready alternatives. Therefore, applying the four factors of the reasonable relationship test to the English-only regulation, the court concludes that the English-only regulation is facially constitutional. The court turns next to Sisneros’ “as applied” challenge to the regulation. 2. “As Applied” Constitutional Challenge Sisneros also challenges the application of the regulation. While the same factors in Turner guide this analysis of the reasonable relationship test to the English-only ISP regulation, this “as applied” challenge is different: [bjecause the AbbotNTumer factors were developed in a case which presented only a facial constitutional challenge, they do not always lend themselves to an “as applied” analysis. Their usefulness is dependent upon the given factors of a given ease. Accordingly the court will address those factors most applicable and helpful to its analysis. Nichols, 810 F.Supp. at 1462. The first factor in the Turner analysis of Sisneros’ “as applied” challenge is, once again, the government’s objective underlying the regulation, its legitimacy and neutrality, and the regulation’s rational relation to its objective. The court has already upheld the ISP English-only regulation based on its reasonable relationship to legitimate institutional concerns regarding security. The regulation is in place to detect information about escape plans, threats, and illegal activities. These same concerns are addressed in Turner, where the Court upheld a regulation which banned correspondence between inmates of different institutions. Turner, 482 U.S. at 91, 107 S.Ct. at 2262. As the court observed in Smith v. Delo, 995 F.2d at 830, “it is apparent that the regulation at issue is reasonably related to this legitimate purpose; only by discovering the contents of the mail can prison officials insure that mail containing improper matters is not sent outside the prison.” (footnote omitted). Additionally, “prison officials do not need to wait for problems to occur before addressing them; prison officials are entitled to act preemptively in order to prevent prob- . lems from occurring in the first place.” Id. at 831. In terms of neutrality, the English-only regulation at issue does not make a distinction between correspondence based on content. The English-only rule makes no distinction based on the substance of the ideas or thoughts contained in the correspondence. Rather, the restriction is only on the form of the communication. In Abbott, the Court upheld prison regulations which made distinctions between various publications based solely on the different potential security implications. Abbott, 490 U.S. at 415-16, 109 S.Ct. at 1882-83. Although these distinctions are somewhat content based, the Supreme Court finds them to be “ ‘neutral’ in the technical sense in which we meant and used that term in Turner.” Id. In the present case, the regulation distinguishes between inmate correspondence based solely on the security implications of the correspondence. If the correspondence is not in English, it cannot be understood by prison officials and thereby creates a threat to the security of the institution. The information could contain information regarding illegal activities, escape attempts, or threats to others, all threats to prison security. The requirement that all correspondence be written in English is logically related to the prison officials’ ability to monitor the mail and maintain order in the prison. A valid, neutral connection between the regulation and the governmental objective is achieved. The second Abbott-Turner factor of the reasonable relationship test is whether there are alternative means of exercising-the right at issue. The most obvious alternative means for the exercise of Sisneros’ right to communicate with his relatives is for him to write them in English. Sisneros has relatives who speak English and there is no showing in the record that these relatives cannot translate Sisneros’ letters written in English to Spanish or Apache. Moreover, there is no showing in the record that the relatives with whom Sisneros seeks to communicate in Spanish and Apache do not have access to individuals who could interpret letters written by Sisneros in English. Thus, the court concludes that there are alternative means for Sisneros to exercise his right to communicate with his Spanish and Apache speaking relatives in the Southwest. The third Abbott-Turner factor is the impact the accommodation of this right will have on the inmates, the guards and the prison as a whole. Turner, 482 U.S. at 90, 107 S.Ct. at 2262; Abbott, 490 U.S. at 418, 109 S.Ct. at 1884. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the inability to monitor inmate correspondence “has a tremendous impact on prison officials, who have a strong interest in preventing, deterring, and discovering escape plans.” Smith v. Delo, 995 F.2d at 831. In addition, unmonitored mail would also “have a- strong impact on anyone receiving a threat from an inmate.” Id. The prison administration’s loss of control would lead to a deterioration of the overall safety and stability of the prison environment, thus affecting the prison population as a whole. Therefore, the right in question “can be exercised only at the cost of significantly less liberty and safety for everyone else, guards and other prisoners alike.” Turner, 482 U.S. at 92, 107 S.Ct. at 2263. Finally, under the fourth Abbott-Tumer factor, the court is required to explore whether obvious, easy alternatives to the restriction exist. “The existence of [such] alternatives may be evidence that the regulation is not reasonable, but is an ‘exaggerated response’ to prison concerns.” Turner, 482 U.S. at 90, 107 S.Ct. at 2262. A prison regulation does not have to pass a “least restrictive alternative” test, but “if an inmate claimant can point to an alternative that fully accommodates the prisoner’s rights at a de minimis cost to valid penological interests, a court may consider that as evidence that the regulation does not satisfy the reasonable relationship standard.” Turner, 482 U.S. at 90-91, 107 S.Ct. at 2262. Sisneros has offered no reasonable alternative to the English-only policy that would not pose a significant cost to the prison. The Supreme Court has held thát the monitoring of prison correspondence clearly imposes “more than a de minimis cost on the pursuit of legitimate correction goals.” Id. at 93, 107 S.Ct. at 2264. While there may be other reasonable alternatives, Sisneros failed to establish them. While this case was pending, the Eighth Circuit decided Thongvanh v. Thalacker, 17 F.3d 256 (8th Cir.1994). In Thongvanh, the Circuit affirmed a jury verdict in favor of Plaintiff Khamfeuang Thongvanh, a Laotian inmate at the Iowa Men’s Reformatory in Anamosa, Iowa, that his First Amendment rights were violated by the application of the English-only rule. In affirming the judgment for the Plaintiff, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals observed, after listing the four Turner factors, that: In this case, there was evidence that one German-speaking and several Spanish-speaking inmates were excepted from the “English-only” rule. While translating these letters was certainly more convenient for the IMR than correspondence in Lao, there was a ready alternative with respect to translating Lao correspondence at the Iowa Refugee Center. There was no explanation as to why all correspondence in Lao could not have been routed through the Refugee Service Center. Prison officials testified that the Lao-to-English translation service provided by the Refugee Service Center was cost-free to the IMR. Furthermore, testimony of prison officials was that, while all correspondence was scanned and checked for contraband, only randomly selected letters— whether in English or another language— were actually read by prison officials. Thongvanh, 17 F.3d at 259. The proof in this litigation differs critically from that in Thongvanh. In Thongvanh, the plaintiff established the existence of “a ready alternative” with respect to translating the foreign language correspondence. Thongvanh, 17 F.3d at 259. Thongvanh established that the Iowa Refugee Center was available to provide translation service from Lao to English cost-free to the Iowa Men’s Reformatory. Id. In the present litigation Sisneros failed to offer any evidence of reasonable alternatives. While the court could undoubtedly speculate as to a myriad of reasonable alternatives for the translation of Spanish, and to a lesser extent, Apache, the court is unwilling to do so. It was Sisneros’ obligation to offer proof of a “ready alternative’-’ — and he failed to do so. Thus, Sisneros’ claim is distinguishable from Thongvanh. While the Eighth Circuit’s recent decision in Thongvanh is strong support for Sisneros’ as applied constitutional contention — his failure of proof on the existence of reasonable alternatives distinguishes this case from the holding in Thongvanh. Therefore, utilizing the four factors of the reasonable relationship test as applied to the restrictions on Sisneros’ foreign language correspondence, the court holds that the English-only regulation is constitutional as applied. The restrictions imposed on Sisneros by defendants Nix and Hedgepeth are reasonably related to the legitimate penological interest of security. V. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF SISNE-ROS’ TRANSFER (Including Some Ultimate Findings Of Fact) A. Introduction Sisneros asserts he was impermissibly transferred to Arizona in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights to pursue inmate grievances and file suit against ISP officials. It is now well settled law that “[pjrison officials may not retaliate against an inmate for filing legal actions in the exercise of his constitutional right of access to the courts.” Goff v. Burton, 7 F.3d 734, 736 (8th Cir.1993), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 2684, 129 L.Ed.2d 817 (1994); Goff v. Dailey, 991 F.2d 1437, 1439 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 114 S.Ct. 564, 126 L.Ed.2d 464 (1993); Ponchik v. Bogan, 929 F.2d 419, 420 (8th Cir.1991); Sanders v. St. Louis County, 724 F.2d 665, 666 (8th Cir. 1983) (citations omitted). This prohibition of retaliation by prison officials includes inmate grievances as well as legal actions. Orebaugh v. Caspari, 910 F.2d 526, 528 (8th Cir.1990); Sprouse v. Babcock, 870 F.2d 450, 452 (8th Cir.1989) (“That the' Constitution does not obligate the state to establish a grievance procedure is, we believe, of no consequence here, since what is at stake is a prisoner’s right to access to an existing grievance procedure without fear of being subjected to a retaliatory disciplinary action.”) Indeed, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that “a threat of retaliation is sufficient injury [to sustain a First Amendment claim] if made in retaliation for an inmate’s use of prison grievance procedures.” Burgess v. Moore, 39 F.3d 216, 218 (8th Cir.1994) (citing Dixon v. Brown, 38 F.3d 379 (8th Cir.1994); Sanders v. St. Louis County, 724 F.2d 665, 666 (8th Cir.1983)). Although Sisneros, like other prisoners, “enjoys no constitutional right to remain in a particular institution,” Goff, 7 F.3d at 737 (quoting Murphy v. Missouri Dep’t of Correction, 769 F.2d 502, 503 (8th Cir.1985)), and although generally prison officials “may transfer a prisoner ‘for whatever reason or for no reason at all,’” Goff, 7 F.3d at 737 (citing Olim v. Wakinekona, 461 U.S. 238, 250, 103 S.Ct. 1741, 1748, 75 L.Ed.2d 813 (1983) quoting Meachum v. Fano, 427 U.S. 215, 228, 96 S.Ct. 2532, 2540, 49 L.Ed.2d 451 (1976)), “a prisoner cannot be transferred in retaliation for the exercise of a constitutional right.” Goff, 7 F.3d at 737; Ponchik, 929 F.2d at 420); Murphy, 769 F.2d at 503; Garland v. Policy, 594 F.2d 1220, 1223 (8th Cir.1979). B. Appropriate Standard for Analyzing Sisneros’ Claim of Retaliatory Transfer Any confusion concerning the appropriate standard to be applied to an inmate’s claim of retaliatory transfer has been clearly dispelled by the Eighth Circuit’s recent holding in Goff v. Burton, 7 F.3d 734, 737-38 (8th Cir.1993). In Goff, the court recognized at the outset that: [i]n raising a retaliatory transfer claim, the prisoner must “ ‘face a substantial burden in attempting to prove that the actual motivating factor for his transfer’” was the impermissible retaliation. Murphy, 769 F.2d at 503 n. 1 (quoting McDonald v. Hall, 610 F.2d 16, 18 (1st Cir.1979)). Goff, 7 F.3d at 737. In Goff, the court went on to observe that “while acknowledging Mount Healthy [City School Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977)], this court has consistently applied the ‘but for’ standard in eases involving a prisoner’s claim of impermissible retaliatory transfer by prison officials rather than applying a burden-shifting analysis.” Goff, 7 F.3d at 737-38. In so holding, the court made clear that the Mount Healthy approach, in which the Plaintiff has the initial burden of showing that his constitutionally protected conduct was a motivating factor in the adverse decision, with the burden then shifting to the defendant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it would have reached the same decision in the absence of protected conduct, was not the standard to be utilized in prisoner retaliatory transfer claims. Id. The utilization of the Mount Healthy burden-shifting analysis is in error “by inappropriately placing the burden of proof upon the prison officials.” Id. at 738. Rather, as Goff makes clear “the burden is on the prisoner to prove that but for an unconstitutional, retaliatory motive the transfer would have not occurred.” Id. at 738. C. Was Sisneros’ Transfer Retaliatory? Using the “but for” standard articulated in Goff, the court concludes that Sisneros has carried his burden of proof in establishing a retaliatory transfer. But for the officials’ unconstitutional retaliatory motive, Sisneros would not have been transferred back to Arizona. Specifically, the court concludes that Sisneros was transferred in retaliation for his exercise of the right to utilize the prison grievance procedure and his filing of lawsuits against ISP officials. As the court previously noted, Sisneros had no disciplinary record while at ISP. Hedgepeth and Nix clearly stated that they transferred Sisneros because he was “unhappy,” “obnoxious,” and “ungracious.” The only factual basis for these observations by Nix and Hedgepeth concerning Sisneros were his complaints about the English-only rule and his complaints about whether he had sufficient Native American blood to be included within the terms of a consent decree in the Walker litigation. Hedgepeth specifically acknowledged that Sisneros pursued both of these “complaints” by first filing grievances and then filing two lawsuits. The record evidence in the form of Hedgepeth’s deposition is compelling on this question of defendants’ retaliatory motive for transferring Sisneros. Hedgepeth was asked to define what he meant by his statement that Sisneros was obnoxious: Q But what you mean by obnoxious is he was complaining about things here? A Yes, complaining, obnoxious, I guess that they fall in the same category. Hedgepeth further elaborated on what he meant by obnoxious when he stated: “you are a guest, if you don’t like the way the rules are you could have asked to go back and if you don’t like what we are doing here whether it be religious or the rules with respect to writing or anything else, it is just too bad, go back to Arizona, so go back there.” Additionally, Hedgepeth believed Sisneros was “ungracious”: Q Okay. And again, I just want to make this clear so everybody understands, there is no other reason that you are aware of for returning him to Arizona other than he was ungracious here because he complained about the rulings? A Yes, he was just an ungracious guest. Finally, Hedgepeth testified concerning the grievances filed by Sisneros as follows: Q Is putting in grievances about potential violation of rights being ungracious? A I didn’t say it was. Q But is it? A Filing a grievance is not being ungracious, it is just being totally obnoxious____ Warden Nix testified that Sisneros was returned to Arizona because he was “unhappy” at ISP. Warden Nix testified as follows: Q Let’s put it this way, was there any reason that you were unhappy with him other than his complaints about these matters that we have identified, that is the English only requirement and the Native American issues? A I am saying that. September 29, 1992 deposition of Crispus C. Nix, p. 75. Nix testified “he was unhappy about religion, about his communications, his inability to speak in Spanish.” This case is therefore a most unusual one in which the court concludes that there has been a retaliatory transfer, because in all other such cases of which this court is aware, the record at least suggested that the transfer was the result of mixed motives or the proffer of a legitimate reason held to be pretextual. The court has made a thorough search of the record for a suggestion of a legitimate reason, but finds not a shred of evidence that Hedgepeth and Nix had any reason other than retaliation for transferring Sisneros from Iowa back to Arizona. There is simply no basis in this record for concluding that, in the absence of Sisneros’ grievances and litigation activities, he would have been transferred from Iowa to Arizona. Indeed, the court concludes just the opposite. Defendants Hedgepeth and Nix retaliated against Sisneros by transferring him becaus