Inmate instructions

Virginia state prisoners will now have access to a "lawyer's handbook" which instructs them how to file lawsuits for mistreatment and poor conditions.

A settlement between the Department of Corrections and the publishers of "Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook: How to Bring a Federal Lawsuit to Challenge Violations of Your Rights in Prison" was reached on Feb. 25. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) filed a lawsuit in federal court in Charlottesville on July 21, 2010, claiming that the Department of Correction's ban on the handbook was a violation of prisoners' First Amendment and due process rights.

NLG attorney Jeff Fogel noted that it is important for prisoners to have the ability to sue for mistreatment. "They need to have at least the right to complain about conditions that are unconstitutional and we as a society need to hear about what's going on in the prisons, and this is one way in which we can hear about it."

The "Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook," a free publication for inmates, teaches prisoners how to file lawsuits for guard brutality, unsafe cell conditions, censorship, inadequate medical care, lack of food, discrimination, religious intolerance, and many other grievances. The 113-page resource examines a short history of prisoners' rights, including guaranteed constitutional rights. The handbook contains a step-by-step guide for obtaining a lawyer, filing a suit, communicating with the courts and the media, and researching legal citations.

The second sentence of Chapter One reads, "The Handbook does not assume that a lawsuit is the only way to challenge poor treatment or that it is always the best way. It only assumes that a lawsuit can sometimes be one useful weapon in the ongoing struggle to change prisons and the society that makes prisons the way they are."

According to the 2010 lawsuit, a prisoner at Coffeewood Correctional Center ordered the "Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook" in the fall of 2009. When it arrived, Operations Officer R. W. Jamison disapproved possession of the book and sent it to the Publication Review Committee. On November 10, 2009, the Publication Review Committee also disapproved the material, citing criterion #12 of the Virginia Department of Corrections Operating Procedure, which allows the banning of material that is "detrimental to the security, good order, discipline of the facility, or offender rehabilitative efforts or the safety or health of offenders, staff, or others."

The CCR and NLG stated in the lawsuit that the "Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook" contained important legal information and did not pose of threat to prison security. They also charged that they were not given notice of "the proposed censorship" or the opportunity to argue their case to the Publication Review Committee.

According to the settlement, every Virginia prison library will contain five copies of "Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook" and prisoners will be allowed to subscribe to CCR and NLG publications. The Department of Corrections will notify the two non-profit organizations if any future publication is banned and will also pay approximately $13,000 in attorney fees and damages.

Although hundreds of lawsuits are filed by inmates every year, Fogel said that access to the handbook may decrease the number.

"It may actually reduce the amount of litigation once prisoners realize what the limitations are in the law and may be able to recognize through reading this handbook what they can and what they can't complain about and the limitations that are imposed on their ability to complain."

The Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook can be accessed online for free at http://www.jailhouselaw.org.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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