Florida Inmates Sue over Removal
of Typewriters
Four inmates sued the state of Florida August 31 over the removal by the Department of Corrections of typewriters, personal computers, and word processors from prison law libraries in May as a cost-saving measure.
The Associated Press reported August 31 that the suit, filed in circuit court on behalf of four prisoners at Avon Park Correctional Institution, claims that the action violates the state constitutional provisions that promise citizens—including prison inmates—equal access to courts and full benefit of laws. The ACLU has said that inmates’ motions for appeal may be treated less seriously if they are handwritten.
Earlier, a story in the August 21 St. Petersburg Times revealed that the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice has a policy of prohibiting juvenile offenders from having reading materials in their cells. Don Goff, regional chief of detention, told the Times that although youths were allowed to read in their cells in the past, “unfortunately for the most part that privilege has been abused.” Books are designated as contraband, the newspaper said, since they can be used to fashion weapons or help someone escape. Goff cited cases where offenders have put a paperback in a sock to create a club or woven pages together and moistened then to fashion a rope.
Posted September 10, 2001.
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