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Timestamp: 2019-04-22 21:10:27+00:00

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Petitioner, a Tennessee prisoner, was disciplined for violating a prison regulation which prohibited inmates from assisting other prisoners in preparing writs. The District Court held the regulation void because it had the effect of barring illiterate prisoners from access to federal habeas corpus and conflicted with 28 U.S.C. 2242. The Court of Appeals reversed, finding that the State's interest in preserving prison discipline and limiting the practice of law to attorneys justified any burden the regulation might place on access to federal habeas corpus. Held: In the absence of some provision by the State of Tennessee for a reasonable alternative to assist illiterate or poorly educated inmates in preparing petitions for post-conviction relief, the State may not validly enforce a regulation which absolutely bars inmates from furnishing such assistance to other prisoners. Pp. 485-490.
382 F.2d 353, reversed and remanded.
Karl P. Warden argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the brief was Pierce Winningham.
Thomas E. Fox, Deputy Attorney General of Tennessee, argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief were George F. McCanless, Attorney General, and David W. McMackin, Assistant Attorney General.
Melvin L. Wulf filed a brief for the American Civil Liberties Union et al., as amici curiae, urging reversal.
"No inmate will advise, assist or otherwise contract to aid another, either with or without a fee, to prepare Writs or other legal matters. It is not intended that an innocent man be punished. When a man believes he is unlawfully held or illegally convicted, he should prepare a brief or state his complaint in letter form and address it to his lawyer or a judge. A formal Writ is not necessary to receive a hearing. False charges or untrue complaints may be punished. Inmates are forbidden to set themselves up as practitioners for the purpose of promoting a business of writing Writs."
This Court has constantly emphasized the fundamental importance of the writ of habeas corpus in our constitutional scheme, 2 and the Congress has demonstrated its solicitude for the vigor of the Great Writ. 3 The Court has steadfastly insisted that "there is no higher duty than to maintain it unimpaired." Bowen v. Johnston, 306 U.S. 19, 26 (1939).
Since the basic purpose of the writ is to enable those unlawfully incarcerated to obtain their freedom, it is fundamental that access of prisoners to the courts for the purpose of presenting their complaints may not be denied or obstructed. For example, the Court has held that a State may not validly make the writ available [393 U.S. 483, 486] only to prisoners who could pay a $4 filing fee. Smith v. Bennett, 365 U.S. 708 (1961). And it has insisted that, for the indigent as well as for the affluent prisoner, post-conviction proceedings must be more than a formality. For instance, the State is obligated to furnish prisoners not otherwise able to obtain it, with a transcript or equivalent recordation of prior habeas corpus hearings for use in further proceedings. Long v. District Court, 385 U.S. 192 (1966). Cf. Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12 (1956).
For example, in Lee v. Washington, 390 U.S. 333 (1968), the practice of racial segregation of prisoners was justified by the State as necessary to maintain good order and discipline. We held, however, that the practice was constitutionally prohibited, although we were careful to point out that the order of the District Court, which we affirmed, made allowance for "the necessities of prison security and discipline." Id., at 334. And in Ex parte Hull, 312 U.S. 546 (1941), this Court invalidated a state regulation which required that habeas corpus petitions first be submitted to prison authorities and then approved by the "legal investigator" to the parole board as "properly drawn" before being transmitted to the court. Here again, the State urged that the requirement was necessary to maintain prison discipline. But this Court held that the regulation violated the principle that "the state and its officers may not [393 U.S. 483, 487] abridge or impair petitioner's right to apply to a federal court for a writ of habeas corpus." 312 U.S., at 549 . Cf. Cochran v. Kansas, 316 U.S. 255, 257 (1942).
There can be no doubt that Tennessee could not constitutionally adopt and enforce a rule forbidding illiterate or poorly educated prisoners to file habeas corpus petitions. Here Tennessee has adopted a rule which, in the absence of any other source of assistance for such prisoners, effectively does just that. The District Court concluded that "[f]or all practical purposes, if such prisoners cannot have the assistance of a `jail-house lawyer,' their possibly valid constitutional claims will never be heard in any court." 252 F. Supp., at 784. The record supports this conclusion.
It has not been held that there is any general obligation of the courts, state or federal, to appoint counsel for prisoners who indicate, without more, that they wish to seek post-conviction relief. See, e. g., Barker v. Ohio, 330 F.2d 594 (C. A. 6th Cir. 1964). Accordingly, the initial burden of presenting a claim to post-conviction relief usually rests upon the indigent prisoner himself with such help as he can obtain within the prison walls or the prison system. In the case of all except those who are able to help themselves - usually a few old hands or exceptionally gifted prisoners - the prisoner is, in effect, denied access to the courts unless such help is available.
"The considerations that prompted [the regulation's] formulation are not without merit, but the state and its officers may not abridge or impair petitioner's right to apply to a federal court for a writ of habeas corpus." 312 U.S., at 549 .
Tennessee does not provide an available alternative to the assistance provided by other inmates. The warden of the prison in which petitioner was confined stated that the prison provided free notarization of prisoners' petitions. That obviously meets only a formal requirement. He also indicated that he sometimes allowed prisoners to examine the listing of attorneys in the Nashville telephone directory so they could select one to write to in an effort to interest him in taking the case, and [393 U.S. 483, 489] that "on several occasions" he had contacted the public defender at the request of an inmate. There is no contention, however, that there is any regular system of assistance by public defenders. In its brief the State contends that "[t]here is absolutely no reason to believe that prison officials would fail to notify the court should an inmate advise them of a complete inability, either mental or physical, to prepare a habeas application on his own behalf," but there is no contention that they have in fact ever done so.
This is obviously far short of the showing required to demonstrate that, in depriving prisoners of the assistance of fellow inmates, Tennessee has not, in substance, deprived those unable themselves, with reasonable adequacy, to prepare their petitions, of access to the constitutionally and statutorily protected availability of the writ of habeas corpus. By contrast, in several States, 8 the public defender system supplies trained attorneys, paid from public funds, who are available to consult with prisoners regarding their habeas corpus petitions. At least one State employs senior law students to interview and advise inmates in state prisons. 9 Another State has a voluntary program whereby members of the local bar association make periodic visits to the prison to consult with prisoners concerning their cases. 10 We express no judgment concerning these plans, [393 U.S. 483, 490] but their existence indicates that techniques are available to provide alternatives if the State elects to prohibit mutual assistance among inmates.
[ Footnote 1 ] 28 U.S.C. 2242 provides in part: "Application for a writ of habeas corpus shall be in writing signed and verified by the person for whose relief it is intended or by someone acting in his behalf."
[ Footnote 2 ] E. g., Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391 (1963).
[ Footnote 3 ] 28 U.S.C. 2241-2255.
[ Footnote 4 ] See Note, Constitutional Law: Prison "No-Assistance" Regulations and the Jailhouse Lawyer, 1968 Duke L. J. 343, 347-348, 360-361.
[ Footnote 5 ] Tennessee Department of Correction, Departmental Report: Fiscal Years 1965-1966, 1966-1967.
[ Footnote 6 ] Tennessee's post-conviction procedure provides for appointment of counsel "if necessary." Tenn. Code Ann. 40-3821, 40-2019 (Supp. 1967).
[ Footnote 7 ] See, e. g., Spector, A Prison Librarian Looks at Writ-Writing, 56 Calif. L. Rev. 365 (1968).
[ Footnote 8 ] Note, supra, n. 4, at 349, n. 27, and 359. See also Rossmoore & Koenigsberg, Habeas Corpus and the Indigent Prisoner, 11 Rutgers L. Rev. 611, 619-622 (1957).
[ Footnote 9 ] At the time of the second hearing in petitioner's case, the warden testified, the State was considering setting up a program under which senior law students from Vanderbilt Law School would assist prisoners in the preparation of post-conviction relief applications. For whatever it may be worth, petitioner testified that he would stop helping other inmates if such a system were in existence.
[ Footnote 10 ] One State has designated an inmate as the official prison writ-writer. See Note, supra, n. 4, at 359.
"[I]n any legal assistance corporation, supported by Federal antipoverty funds, the executive staff, and those with the responsibility to hire and discharge staff from the very top to the lowest lay [393 U.S. 483, 492] echelon must be lawyers." Matter of Action for Legal Services, 26 App. Div. 2d 354, 360, 274 N. Y. S. 2d 779, 787 (1966).
That traditional, closed-shop attitude is utterly out of place in the modern world 1 where claims pile high and much of the work of tracing and pursuing them requires the patience and wisdom of a layman rather than the legal skills of a member of the bar.
"If poverty lawyers are overworked, some of the work can be delegated to sub-professionals. New York law permits senior law students to practice law under certain supervised conditions. Approval must first be granted by the appellate division. A rung or two lower on the legal profession's ladder are laymen legal technicians, comparable to nurses and lab assistants in the medical profession. Large law firms employ them, and there seems to be no reason why they cannot be used in legal services programs to relieve attorneys for more professional tasks." Samore, Legal Services for the Poor, 32 Albany L. Rev. 509, 515-516 (1968).
And see Sparer, Thorkelson, & Weiss, The Lay Advocate, 43 U. Det. L. J. 493, 510-514 (1966).
While the demand for legal counsel in prison is heavy, the supply is light. For private matters of a civil nature, legal counsel for the indigent in prison is almost non-existent. Even for criminal proceedings, it is sparse. 6 While a few States have post-conviction statutes providing such counsel, 7 most States do not. 8 Some States like California do appoint counsel to represent the indigent prisoner in his collateral hearings, once he succeeds in making out a prima facie case. 9 But as a result, counsel [393 U.S. 483, 494] is not on hand for preparation of the papers or for the initial decision that the prisoner's claim has substance.
"It is not unusual, then, in a subculture created by the criminal law, wherein prisoners exist as creatures of the law, that they should use the law to try to reclaim their previously enjoyed status in society. The upheavals occurring in the American social structure are reflected within the prison environment. Prisoners, having real or imagined grievances, cannot demonstrate in protest against them. The right peaceably to assemble is denied to them. The only avenue open to prisoners is taking their case to court. Prison writ-writers would compare themselves to the dissenters outside prison . . . .
In that view, which many share, the preparation of these endless petitions within the prisons is a useful form of therapy. Apart from that, their preparation must never be considered the exclusive prerogative of the lawyer. Laymen - in and out of prison - should be allowed to act as "next friend" to any person in the preparation of any paper or document or claim, so long as he does not hold himself out as practicing law or as being a member of the Bar.
The cooperation and help of laymen, as well as of lawyers, is necessary if the right of "[r]easonable access to the courts" 24 is to be available to the indigents among us.
[ Footnote 1 ] The New York program that is funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and which as noted was first rejected by the New York courts, is called Community Action for Legal Services. It was finally approved by the New York courts with a board of directors of 20 lawyers and 10 laymen. 158 N. Y. L. J. No. 72, pp. 1, 5 (1967).
[ Footnote 2 ] Reitz, Federal Habeas Corpus: Postconviction Remedy for State Prisoners, 108 U. Pa. L. Rev. 461 (1960).
[ Footnote 3 ] Hubanks & Linde, Legal Services to the Indigent Imprisoned, 23 Legal Aid Briefcase 214 (1965).
[ Footnote 4 ] Temin, Report on Postconviction Services to the County Prison, 25 Legal Aid Briefcase 18 (1966).
[ Footnote 5 ] Note, Constitutional Law: Prison "No-Assistance" Regulations and the Jailhouse Lawyer, 1968 Duke L. J. 343.
[ Footnote 6 ] L. Silverstein, Defense of the Poor in Criminal Cases in American State Courts: A Preliminary Summary (Amer. Bar Foundation 1964); Note, Legal Services for the Poor, 49 Mass. L. Q. 293 (1964); O. E. O. and Legal Services - A Symposium, 14 Catholic Law. 92-174 (1968); Note, Legal Services for Prison Inmates, 1967 Wis. L. Rev. 514; Uelmen, Post-Conviction Relief for Federal Prisoners Under 28 U.S.C. 2255: A Survey and a Suggestion, 69 W. Va. L. Rev. 277 (1967).
[ Footnote 7 ] Ill. Rev. Stat., c. 38, 122-4 (1967); Ore. Rev. Stat. 138.590 (1967).
[ Footnote 8 ] Comment, Right to Counsel in Criminal Post-Conviction Review Proceedings, 51 Calif. L. Rev. 970 (1963).
[ Footnote 9 ] See, e. g., People v. Shipman, 62 Cal. 2d 226, 397 P.2d 993 (1965). Note, Indigent's Right to Counsel in Post-Conviction Collateral Proceedings in California: People v. Shipman, 13 U. C. L. A. L. Rev. 446 (1966).
[ Footnote 10 ] "Lawyers generally require at least a fifty dollar fee to travel to the prisons to consult with a prisoner. The ones not able to pay this sum must resort to the next best course of action - act as their own lawyers. The disadvantages to the prisoner are obvious. A lawyer, after examining the prisoner's transcripts or conducting an independent investigation of the facts, could immediately advise him on a course of action. Lacking the money to hire a lawyer, the prisoner must spend considerable time researching the law, preparing the required legal documents, and filing them. Sometimes years pass before the prisoner discovers what a lawyer could have told him in several weeks - that his case either has or lacks merit. The prisoners who have militantly prosecuted frivolous actions have wasted time they could have devoted to preparing themselves for release from prison. The state, by shouldering these indigent prisoners with the responsibility of acting as their own counsel, has dissipated the taxpayers' money in wasted manpower and court costs." Larsen, A Prisoner Looks at Writ-Writing, 56 Calif. L. Rev. 343, 345-346 (1968).
[ Footnote 11 ] Note, Legal Services for the Poor, 49 Mass. L. Q. 293 (1964).
[ Footnote 12 ] Note, Representation of Indigent Criminal Defendants in the Federal District Courts, 76 Harv. L. Rev. 579 (1963); Note, Representation of Indigents in California - A Field Study of the Public Defender and Assigned Counsel Systems, 13 Stan. L. Rev. 522 (1961); Gardiner, Defects in Present Legal Aid Service and the Remedies, 22 Tenn. L. Rev. 505 (1952); Note, Prisoner Assistance on Federal Habeas Corpus Petitions, 19 Stan. L. Rev. 887 (1967).
[ Footnote 13 ] O. E. O. and Legal Services - A Symposium, 14 Catholic Law. 92-174 (1968).
[ Footnote 14 ] E. Mancuso, The Public Defender System in the State of California 5 (1959).
[ Footnote 15 ] Barkin, Impact of Changing Law Upon Prison Policy, 47 Prison J. 3, 8 (1969). And see Matter of Cornell Legal Aid Clinic, 26 App. Div. 2d 790, 273 N. Y. S. 2d 444.
[ Footnote 16 ] Wilson, Legal Assistance Project at Leavenworth, 24 Legal Aid Briefcase 254 (1966).
[ Footnote 17 ] Note, supra, n. 5, at 359.
[ Footnote 18 ] Note, Representation of Indigent Criminal Defendants in the Federal District Courts, 76 Harv. L. Rev. 579 (1963); Note, Representation of Indigents in California - A Field Study of the Public Defender and Assigned Counsel Systems, 13 Stan. L. Rev. 522 (1961).
[ Footnote 19 ] R. Sokol, A Handbook of Federal Habeas Corpus 53-54, 192-200 (1965).
[ Footnote 20 ] Larsen, A Prisoner Looks at Writ-Writing, 56 Calif. L. Rev. 343, 353 (1968).
[ Footnote 21 ] Note, supra, n. 5, at 348-349.
[ Footnote 22 ] Freund, Remarks, Symposium, Habeas Corpus - Proposals for Reform, 9 Utah L. Rev. 18, 30 (1964).
[ Footnote 23 ] Larsen, A Prisoner Looks at Writ-Writing, 56 Calif. L. Rev. 343, 347-348 (1968).
[ Footnote 24 ] "Reasonable access to the courts is . . . a right [secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States], being guaranteed as against state action by the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. In so far as access by state prisoners to federal courts is concerned, this right was recognized in Ex parte Hull, 312 U.S. 546, 549 . . . . The right of access by state prisoners to state courts was recognized in White v. Ragen, 324 U.S. 760, 762 , n. 1.." Hatfield v. Bailleaux, 290 F.2d 632, 636 (C. A. 9th Cir. 1961).
Having in mind these matters, which seem too clear for argument, the Court rules that unless the State provides a reasonably adequate alternative, it may not [393 U.S. 483, 499] enforce its rule against inmates furnishing help to others in preparing post-conviction petitions. The Court does not say so in so many words, but apparently the extent of the State's duty is not to interfere with indigents seeking advice from other prisoners. It seems to me, however, that unless the help the indigent gets from other inmates is reasonably adequate for the task, he will be as surely and effectively barred from the courts as if he were accorded no help at all. It may be that those who could help effectively refuse to do so because the indigent cannot pay, that there is actually no fellow inmate who is competent to help, or that the realities of prison life leave the indigent to the mercies of those who should not be advising others at all. In this event the problem of the incompetent needing help is only exacerbated as is the difficulty of the courts in dealing with a mounting flow of inadequate and misconceived petitions.
The majority admits that it "is indisputable" that jailhouse lawyers like petitioner "are sometimes a menace to prison discipline and that their petitions are often so unskillful as to be a burden on the courts which receive them." That is putting it mildly. The disciplinary problems are severe, the burden on the courts serious, and the disadvantages to prisoner clients of the jailhouse lawyer are unacceptable.
Habeas corpus petitions, as the majority notes, are relatively easy to prepare: they need only set out the facts giving rise to a claim for relief and the judge will apply the law, appointing a lawyer for the prisoner and giving him a hearing when appropriate. This fact does not buttress the unregulated jailhouse lawyer system, but undermines it. To the extent that it is easy to state a claim, any prisoner can do it, and need not submit to the mercies of a jailhouse lawyer. To the extent that it is difficult - [393 U.S. 483, 501] and it is necessary to understand what one's rights are before it is possible to set out in a petition the facts which support them - there may be no fellow prisoner adequate to the task. There are some well informed and articulate prisoners and some (not necessarily the same) who give advice and aid out of altruism. When the two qualities are combined in one man, as they sometimes are, he can be a perfectly adequate source of help. But the jails are not characteristically populated with the intelligent or the benign, and capable altruists must be rare indeed. On the other hand, some jailhouse clients are illiterate; and whether illiterate or not, there are others who are unable to prepare their own petitions. They need help, but I doubt that the problem of the indigent convict will be solved by subjecting him to the false hopes, dominance, and inept representation of the average unsupervised jailhouse lawyer.
If the problem of the indigent and ignorant convict in seeking post-conviction relief is substantial, which I think it is, the better course is not in effect to sanction [393 U.S. 483, 502] and encourage spontaneous jailhouse lawyer systems but to decide the matter directly in the case of a man who himself needs help and in that case to rule that the State must provide access to the courts by ensuring that those who cannot help themselves have reasonably adequate assistance in preparing their post-conviction papers. Ideally, perhaps professional help should be furnished and prisoners encouraged to seek it so that any possible claims receive early and complete examination. But I am inclined to agree with MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS that it is neither practical nor necessary to require the help of lawyers. As the opinions in this case indicate, the alternatives are various and the burden on the States would not be impossible to discharge. This requirement might even be met by the establishment of a system of regulated trusties of the prison who would advise prisoners of their legal rights. Selection of the jailhouse lawyers by the prison officials for scholarship and character might assure that the inmate client received advice which would actually help him, and regulation of the "practice" by the authorities would reduce the likelihood of coerced fees or blackmail. The same legislative judgment which should be sustained in concluding that the evils of jailhouse lawyering justify its proscription might also support a legislative conclusion that jailhouse lawyering under carefully controlled conditions satisfies the prisoner's constitutional right to help.

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