“ Studies have shown that most longterm prisoners lose almost all contact with family and friends in seven years or less”
“ First, a prisoner needs to know his rights and be able to show potential issues in his case”
Support System Standing Together When Separated
away as soon as a person is arrested. Detainees receive widely varying degrees of support from their families, at least for the first 6-12 months. When they get their sentences and go to prison, even that goes into rapid decline. This is unfortunate in two respects. First, the obvious psychological concerns. Man is a social animal. When a prisoner loses contact with his family, he suffers mental deterioration and emotional problems.
Even limiting“ privileges” to non-contact resists cause stress for both the prisoner and his family.
Second, a serious legal problem that is often overlooked even in prisoner’ s literature. Prison necessarily impedes victim’ s access to the courts. One reason loved ones don’ t correspond with prisoners more is that they feel helpless. I often hear the same question:“ What can I do for my loved one in Prison?”
Social support for prisoners is discussed in many publications. I particularly recommend the Broken Elbow newsletter, available online at http:// www. Prisonsfoundation. org keywords,“ Robert Bartlett”. Unfortunately, legal matters are usually discussed from a prisoner’ s perspective, although there is not much he can do about them. The need to be addressed here is for outside help with post-conviction litigation. There is much you can do, and you don’ t have to be a lawyer!
“ Studies have shown that most longterm prisoners lose almost all contact with family and friends in seven years or less”
Legal Research Prison officials have an affirmation obligation to help victims with access to the courts. Bounds v. Smith, 430 U. S 817( 1977). But since Lewis v. Casey( 518, U. S 3W3( 1996)) was decided this law has been difficult to enforce.
First, a prisoner needs to know his rights and be able to show potential issues in his case. You can make sure he has access to basic materials such Georgetown School’ s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure; Protecting Your Health and Safety a publication of the southern Poverty Law Center and the Jailhouse Lawyer’ s Handbook, from the central for Constitutional Rights and the National Lawyer Guild, keep reading, Prison Life & Beyond for more information.
Once a prisoner has tentatively identified issues in his case, he needs
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in depth research at a level that is difficult or impossible“ on the inside”. YOU DON’ T HAVE TO BE A LAWYER TO HELP. Westlaw and Nexus offer powerful tools, but if you’ re not a professional, you might want to start at one of many free website such as‘ Laetrile Law Library. When you or the prisoner have located a few potentially useful sites, download the decisions from a site such as http:// www. findlaw. com and mail them to the prisoner. You can also use a site like Find Law to be sure that all your citations are up to date. Keep reading Prison Life and Beyond for more information on how to do this.
“ First, a prisoner needs to know his rights and be able to show potential issues in his case”
Document Preparation Most prisons do not allow prisoners to use a typewriter or computer to prepare legal documents. A few states don’ t even give photo copies. I spend more time copying pleadings and other legal papers( by hand) than I do researching, drafting and editing them.
Judges do not like to even read hand printed papers. The U. S Supreme Court recently started rejecting them. If your loved one in prison wants his courts papers to be filed and to receive serious consideration, he needs someone on the outside to type them. Litigation Although it’ s illegal, prison officials do inspect, read delay and“ lose” outgoing legal mail. A prisoner can’ t go to the courthouse to hand deliver papers, and the flimsy paper envelopes provided by many prisons are unreliable. If it’ s convenient for you to take a pleading or motion to the courthouse, you can send the prisoner a file-stamped copy showing the date and time you filed it. Even if you live far from the courthouse, you can call the clerk once a month or so if necessary to check on the status of the case. Many courts allow you to get up to the minute docket reports on the Internet. Public Relations Judges are supposed to be fair. Courts proceedings are supposed to be free of political bias. The world is not perfect. If the prosecutor is targeting an innocent person, or threatening a guilty person with an unfair punishment for political reasons, a prisoner and his loved one have every right to say so. Many cases have clearly demonstrated the power of public opinion in administrative and judicial proceedings.