Inmate's suit over short shorts dismissed

A federal judge has dismissed a long-standing lawsuit against the Utah State Prison filed by an inmate who claims he was retaliated against for wearing too-short shorts.

In 2005, Kevin Lynn Thayer filed a federal civil rights suit against the prison, claiming retaliation over a 2003 incident with one female and two male prison guards. According to Thayer's claim, the guards took issue with Thayer's "modified" prison sweat shorts. Guards reported that Thayer, a convicted sex offender, exposed his buttocks when he bent over while sunbathing in the recreation yard of the Purgatory Correctional Facility, and it appeared he was not wearing underwear.

According to the suit, Thayer claimed guards called him into the jail's control room to confiscate his "cute little skirt." When a guard told him to leave his shorts on the floor, Thayer replied, "OK, but I don't think they'll fit you." That snide remark, Thayer claims, earned him months of retaliation by the guards, who threw him in solitary confinement and charged him with making derogatory language toward staff; engaging in or encouraging others to engage in sexual activities; manipulation of housing assignment by use of violent, threatening or disruptive behavior; and disorderly conduct.

Thayer was charged with criminal lewdness, a class B misdemeanor, in Hurricane City Justice Court.

The charge was later dropped by the city prosecutor due to insufficient evidence.

After the charge was dropped, Thayer claimed he continued to be harassed by guards.

In a ruling issued last week, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson ruled that Thayer failed to state any evidence of a civil rights violation. Specifically, Benson wrote that the guards had a legitimate interest in maintaining a secure environment when they confiscated Thayer's shorts. Multiple officers and inmates had seen and complained about Thayer's behavior. "Give that such behavior could jeopardize institutional security, (Purgatory) officials had a legitimate penological interest in investigating the matter further and taking disciplinary action," Benson wrote.

Thayer, who is currently housed at the state prison in Gunnison, is serving time for felony convictions of sex abuse of a child in 1994 and sexual exploitation of a minor in 2002.