What is the test for an actual injury?

An "actual injury" is some specific "instance in which an inmate was actually denied access to the courts." Sands v. Lewis, 886 F.2d 1166, 1171 (9th Cir. 1989). Only if an actual injury is alleged does a plaintiff state a claim for which relief can be granted. Id.; see, e.g., Jenkins v. McMickens, 618 F.Supp. 1472, 1474-75 (S.D.N.Y. 1985) (complaint alleging certain documents pertaining to pending trial confiscated and not returned too conclusory to support

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claim of denial of access to court). To prove an actual injury, the prisoner must show that the inadequacy in the institution's program hindered his effort to pursue a non-frivolous claim concerning his conviction or conditions of confinement. See Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. at 354-55. An impermissible hindrance might include the dismissal of a prisoner's action for failure to satisfy some technical requirement because of deficiencies in the prison's legal assistance program. Id. at 351.