Of course, the administrators are served by lawyers while the prisoners often have to fend for themselves. However, the internet may serve as an equalizer, as a wide range of basic resources are available online, constantly updated and improved, and never borrowed by a colleague down the hall. An excellent site is the Legal Information Institute of the Cornell Law School. For example, this site includes links to Federal Rules of Evidence and Civil Procedure. The U.S. House of Representatives maintains an Internet Law Library .
Some states have similar legal resource web sites that focus on basic state law.
Frequently, these are resources for public defenders. For example, in Tennessee, TnCrimLaw provides a general set of resources applicable to Tennessee.