The following excerpt is from Jackson v. Valenzuela, Civil No. 11cv1077 WQH (JMA) (S.D. Cal. 2011):
1. "[A] retaliation claim may assert an injury no more tangible than a chilling effect on First Amendment rights." Gomez v. Vernon, 255 F.3d 1118, 1127 (9th Cir.2001) (emphasis original). "Without alleging a chilling effect, a retaliation claim without allegation of other harm is not actionable." Id. Thus, while many plaintiffs alleging retaliation can show harm by pointing to the "chilling effect" such acts may have had on the exercise of their First Amendment rights, "harms entirely independent from a chilling effect can ground retaliation claims." Rhodes, 380 F.3d at 1131.
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