Boston John - Prisoners Self Help Litigation Manual

PRISONERS SELF-HELP
LITIGATION MANUAL

JOHN BOSTON AND DANIEL E. MANVILLE

FOURTH EDITION

Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford Universitys objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education.

Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne
Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto

With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan
Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam

Copyright First Edition 1983, Daniel E. Manville
Second Edition, 1986
First Printing, Second Edition, 1986
Second Edition with Supplementation, 1992
Second Printing, Second Edition, with Supplementation, 1994
Third Edition, 1995
Reprinted in 1996
Copyright Fourth Edition, 2010 by Daniel E. Manville and John Boston

Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016

Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
Oceana is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Boston, John. 1948

Prisoners self-help litigation manual./ John Boston, Daniel E. Manville.4th ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-19-537440-7 ((pbk.): alk. paper)

1. PrisonersLegal status, laws, etc.United States. 2. Actions and defensesUnited States.

I. Manville, Daniel E. II. Title.

KF 9731. M 36 2010

344.730356dc22 2010012899

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

Note to Readers

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is based upon sources believed to be accurate and reliable and is intended to be current as of the time it was written. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Also, to confirm that the information has not been affected or changed by recent developments, traditional legal research techniques should be used, including checking primary sources where appropriate.

(Based on the Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations.)

You may order this or any other Oxford University Press publication by visiting the Oxford University Press website at www.oup.com

Louis James Manville
December 19, 1921November 23, 2009

To my Dad who, even though he was a prison guard, stood by me while I engaged in some very destructive behavior and while I was imprisoned. We had many disagreements but these did not impact on our love and respect for each other. He came to understand my drive to litigate on behalf of those imprisoned. I will miss him.

D.E.M.

For Dori and the guys.

J.B.

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION: USING THIS MANUAL AND USING THE COURTS

CHAPTER 2
CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT

CHAPTER 3
CIVIL LIBERTIES IN PRISON

CHAPTER 4
PROCEDURAL DUE PROCESS

CHAPTER 5
EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW

CHAPTER 6
PRETRIAL DETAINEES RIGHTS

CHAPTER 7
THE LEGAL SYSTEM

CHAPTER 8
ACTIONS, DEFENSES, AND RELIEF

CHAPTER 9
THE PRISON LITIGATION REFORM ACT

CHAPTER 10
HOW TO LITIGATE

CHAPTER 11
LEGAL RESEARCH

CHAPTER 12
WRITING LEGAL DOCUMENTS

APPENDIX A
UNITED STATES FEDERAL COURTS DIRECTORY

APPENDIX B
PRISONERS ASSISTANCE ORGANIZATIONS

APPENDIX C
FORMS AND SAMPLE PAPERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS CASES

APPENDIX D
OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST

We thank all of the advocates and prisoners who have encouraged us to produce a new edition of this book, including our colleagues at the Prisoners Rights Project of the New York City Legal Aid Society, especially Dori A. Lewis, who read and criticized large parts of the manuscript, and also Legal Aids patient and resourceful librarian, Alla Reznik. Others who provided valuable assistance include Amy Roemer and Richard McHugh, two lawyers and friends; Elizabeth Alexander, formerly of the ACLU National Prison Project and now in private practice representing prisoners; Randall C. Berg III and Peter Siegel of the Florida Justice Institute; Betsy R. Ginsberg of Cardozo Law School; and Deborah Golden of the D.C. Prisoners Project of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

The last edition of this Manual appeared in 1995 and a lot has happened in the law of prisoners rights and prison litigation since then. It has taken a long time to prepare this new edition, in part because the same developments that have made a new edition necessary were also keeping us busy in our practices.

Like the earlier editions of this Manual, this edition focuses on civil litigation. It does not deal with criminal lawrelated matters,.

Since the last edition of this Manual, there have been tremendous changes in the procedural and substantive law affecting prisoners rights. Many of the changes resulted from the enactment in 1996 of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), which makes litigation by prisoners more difficult, more expensive, and less likely to succeed. is devoted solely to the federal PLRA, and you should be sure you understand it before you file litigation, since it may have a major impact both on your present litigation and your ability to pursue litigation in the future. Most states have also enacted their own restrictions on state court prison litigation, some of them very similar to the federal PLRA.

One requirement of the PLRA is that you must exhaust any available administrative remedies at the prison or jail before you sue, even if you think you are in imminent danger. include making indigent prisoners who are proceeding in forma pauperis pay the entire federal court filing fee (now $350) in installments; excluding prisoners who have had several lawsuits dismissed on certain grounds from proceeding in forma pauperis at all; and barring prisoners from recovering compensatory damages for mental or emotional injury unless they also suffered physical injury.

In the last edition, we told you that for prisoners, the Constitution wasnt what it used to be. The law continues to get worse. Over the last fifteen years, a more conservative Supreme Court has ruled against prisoners in case after case, cutting back or abolishing prisoners rights with respect to due process protections,