Court Orders California to Review
Prison Library Book Cuts
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled August 4 that the California prison system must prove that limiting the supply of law books in prison libraries would not restrict prisoners’ right of access to the courts. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston of San Francisco will hold a hearing on the effects of the library reductions.
The decision follows a 1997 effort by then-Governor Pete Wilson to cut costs by severely cutting back prison law library collections, according to the August 5 San Francisco Examiner. Wilson’s effort was made possible by a 1995 federal law, the Prison Litigation Reform Act, which limited judicial oversight of state prisons through consent decrees that monitor such conditions as the quality of prison libraries.
Attorneys for the nonprofit Prison Law Office argue that the court-ordered collections are necessary for inmates to effectively research their appeals and maintain their rightful access to the court system. Opponents counter that the full collections are no longer necessary, since prisoners are now guaranteed legal representation and need not do their own research.
Posted August 14, 2000.
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