Access to Courts: Law Libraries
and Legal Resources in Prisons

A Pathfinder

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that no person shall be deprived of due process of law. It is within this right that the Supreme Court determined every incarcerated person must have access to legal resources and/or law libraries. A history of cases paved the way for the landmark case, Bounds v. Smith, which placed the burden for provision of law libraries or other legal resources in prisons on prison officials. Incarcerated individuals have the right to use law libraries and legal resources to prepare petitions to the court.

Legal Information Sources

Case Law- Primary Sources

  • Ex Parte Hull, 312 U.S. 546 (1941)

      • Denying Prisoners reasonable access to the courts is denying them the due process right guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

  • Johnson v. Avery, 393 U.S. 483 (1969), 1969 U.S. LEXIS 2442

      • Prisoners can assist each other with habeas corpus applications and other legal matters.

  • Younger v. Gilmore, 404 U.S. 15 (1971), 1971 U.S. LEXIS 672

      • Requires prison officials to provide indigent inmates access to a reasonably adaquate law library for preparation of legal activities.

  • Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396 (1974), 1974 U.S. LEXIS 132

      • An institution with inadaquate alternative sources to legal information is denying inmates the opportunity to make valid legal arguments.

  • Ross v. Moffitt, 417 U.S. 600 (1974), 1974 U.S. LEXIS 76

      • States must provide prisoners an adaquate opportunity to present petitions fairly.

  • Wolf v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974), 1974 U.S. LEXIS 91

      • Prison officials must demonstrate that they are providing reasonable alternatives for legal assistance.

  • Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817 (1977), 1977 U.S. LEXIS 79

      • Declares that states must provide adaquate access to law libraries or legal resources to ensure inmates Fourteenth Amendment rights to access to courts.

  • Cruz v. Hauck, 627 F.2d 710 (5th Cir. 1980)

      • Even if prison libraries have an adaquate number of law books, they may not be meeting the due process rights of people who do not speak English.

  • Falzerno v. Collier, 535 F.Supp. 800 (D.N.J. 1982)

      • Prisoners' right to access the courts cannot realistically rely upon prison law libraries alone.

Statutes

28 U.S.C. § 1915

      Justification for Bounds- code states court may dismiss frivolous cases, therefore inmates must meet all procedural prerequisites for filing cases. Inmates learn prerequisites and legal research through law libraries and legal resources.


Administrative Law and Regulations


Bureau of Prisons, 28 C.F.R. § 543.10 (1995)

      States the purpose and scope of inmate legal activities.

  • Bureau of Prisons, 28 C.F.R. § 543.11 (1995)

      • Discusses legal research and preparation of legal documents.

  • Fed. Rules Civ. Proc. 8 (a)(1)(3)

      • Law library or legal assistance essential to frame habeas corpus petition or civil rights comlaint.

Secondary Sources


Legal Encyclopedias

  • 60 Am. Jur. 2d Penal and Correctional Institutions § 49

      • Discusses regulation of access to courts.

  • 72 C.J.S. Prisons § 114

      • Discusses law libraries and access to legal materials.


Annotated Law Reports

  • Annotation, Sufficiency of Access to Legal Research Facilities Afforded Defendant Confines in State Prison or Local Jail, 23 A.L.R. 4th 590 (1983)


Hornbooks

  • Krantz, Sheldon, The Law of Corrections and Prisoners' Rights in a Nutshell, West, 1983.

    See Chapter 6, Section 19 for a discussion of access to courts.

Law Journals

  • Christopher E. Smith, Examining the Boundaries of Bounds: Prison Law Libraries and Access to the Courts, 30 How. L.J. 27 (1987).

    Provides background cases leading up to Bounds and discusses contemporary applications and issues of the decision.
  • Twenty-fifth Annual Review of Criminal Procedure, 84 Geo. L.J. 1465 (1996).

    Section VI is titled Prisoners' Rights, and contains information about access to courts through legal resources.

    William D. Mongelli, De-mystifying Legal Research for Prisons, 86 Law Libr. J. 277 (1994).

      • Suggests plan for implementing legal research course at prison facilities.

    Databases

    • WESTLAW electronic search query:

        • (right or privil! w/5 inmate or prisoner or detainee) or (regulat! w/8 penitentiary or prison! or jail! or (penal or correctional or secur! w/3 facility or institut!)) and lawbook or law or legal w/5 library or book or facility or research.

    • West Digest Key Numbers

        • Constitutional Law 250.3(2), 268(2), 270.
        Criminal Law 641.10(2), 641.12(1), 641.12(3), 641.4(5)
        Prisons 4(10), 4(13).

    Interdisciplinary Information Sources

    A variety of books and articles on law libraries in prisons.

    • Barbara S. Crosby, Selecting Library Materials for Resident Libraries in State Institutions, Texas State Library, 1989.
    • Brenda Vogel, Down for the Count: a Prison Library Handbook, Scarecrow Press, 1995.
    • Edith McCormick, Prison Librarian Fired in Reprisal for Giving Access to Law Library, 26 American Libraries 10 (1995).
    • Karen Westwood, Prison Law Librarianship: a Lesson in Service for all Librarians, 25 American Libraries 152 (1994).
    • Library Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions, American library Association, 1992.
    • Linda Baily, Jail Library: a Guide for Librarians Jail Administrators, American Library Association, 1981.
    • Linda Schexnaydre, Workshops for Jail Library Service: a Planning Manual, American Library Association, 1981.
    • Oliver James Werner, Manual for Prison Law Libraries, American Association of Law Libraries, 1976.
    • Peter Blunt, Prison Library Services: the Prison Service Perspective, 9 Public Library Journal 163 (1994).
    • Rhea Joyce Rubin & Daniel Suvak, Libraries Inside: a Practical Guide for Prison Librarians, McFarland & Co., 1995.

    Other Information Sources