In a money-saving move, the state of Florida removed all typewriters, personal computers, and word processors from prison law libraries in May. In a June 28 open letter posted on the Department of Corrections Web site, Secretary Michael Moore argued the $50,000 spent annually on such equipment can be better spent on “book purchases and general library services that benefit all inmates.”
But the Florida Justice Institute, a nonprofit public-interest law firm, has received two dozen complaints from prisoners who fear handwritten motions for appeal will be treated less seriously. “When it’s handwritten, it’s not as effective for them,” said Kara Gotsch, public policy coordinator for the ACLU’s National Prison Project in a June 23 Associated Press report.
Prison Library Services Administrator Allen Oversteet told reporters that approximately half the state’s prisons hadn’t had word-processing equipment for years, and the removal was part of a larger effort to standardize prison operations. Overstreet also noted that a 1996 U.S. Supreme Court decision held that prisons need only supply prisoners with legal references to satisfy the constitutional standard of providing access to the courts.
Posted July 2, 2001.