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Closure of Pennsylvania Prison Legal Clinic Enjoined

A Pennsylvania federal district court held that prison officials intent to close the Para-Professional Law Clinic (PPLC) at the State Correctional Institution in Graterford would violate prisoners' right to meaningful access to the courts. The PPLC is a non-profit corporation that has offices on the blocks of Graterford to provide legal services to Graterford prisoners. The service is free to prisoners.

Prison officials gave notice that they intended to close PPLC and replace it with law students to represent the prisoners. The Court found that plan would not provide adequate assistance to illiterate prisoners because law students and library aides are not persons trained in the law" and their limited numbers and effectiveness could by no stretch of the imagination provide adequate access to the courts." Thus, the Court held that the PPLC is necessary to provide meaningful access of the courts to illiterate prisoners.

The Court further found the PPLC is necessary because the prison law library is inadequate, for it lacked recent Federal Reporters, the Pennsylvania Criminal Code, and other materials. Closing the PPLC would deny prisoners access to such legal reference areas.

Accordingly, the Court held the PPLC is necessary to provide meaningful access of Courts to Graterford prisoners. For other decision in this case, see index. See: Wade v. Kane, 448 F. Supp. 678 (E. D. Penn 1978).

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Related legal case

Wade v. Kane

448 F.Supp. 678

United States District Court,E. D. Pennsylvania.

C. Alton WADE, Jr., et al.

v.

Robert P. KANE et al.

Civ. A. No. 78-206.

March 29, 1978.

State prisoners filed civil rights action, alleging that closing of prison law clinic by prison and state authorities deprived them of their constitutional rights, and plaintiffs moved for preliminary injunction. The District Court, Joseph S. Lord, III, Chief Judge, held that: (1) closing of in-prison law clinic operated by inmates deprived inmates of their constitutional right to access to courts by denying inmates access to adequate law library; (2) closing of in-prison law clinic deprived inmates of their constitutional right to access to courts by depriving inmates who were unable to perform their own legal research of their constitutional right to legal assistance from other inmates; (3) prison's failure to make available writing materials and implements to indigent prisoners violated equal protection clause of Fourteenth Amendment as well as right of access to courts, and (4) where closing of law clinic deprived inmates of their constitutional right of access to courts, alternative programs for providing inmates with legal assistance did not assure meaningful access to courts, and prison officials offered no justification for closing clinic, inmates showed great likelihood of prevailing on merits and were thus entitled to preliminary injunctive relief.

Motion for preliminary injunction granted.

*679 C. Alton Wade, Jr., in pro per.

Maria Parisi Vickers, Philadelphia, Pa., for defendants.

*680 ADJUDICATION

JOSEPH S. LORD, III, Chief Judge.

Plaintiffs, who are confined at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford, Pennsylvania, either provided or received legal services from an in-prison law clinic which was operated by inmates. Plaintiffs charge that the closing of the law clinic by prison and state authorities deprived them of their constitutional rights. They seek temporary and permanent injunctive relief and money damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. s 1983. A hearing on preliminary injunctive relief was held on February 16 and 17, 1978, following which I issued a preliminary injunction from the bench. I now make the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The plaintiffs are inmates and residents of the A Block at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford, Pennsylvania ("Graterford"). The defendants are Robert P. Kane, Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; William B. Robinson, Commissioner of the Bureau of Correction of the Pennsylvania Department of Justice; Julius T. Cuyler, Superintendent of Graterford; and Daniel T. Sims, Deputy Superintendent of Treatment at Graterford.

2. On or about January 27, 1976, Graterford inmates and others formed the Para-Professional Law Clinic ("Clinic") as a non-profit corporation under Pennsylvania law for the purpose of providing legal services to Graterford inmates.

3. The Clinic has its main office near the central prison facilities at Graterford. The Clinic also has a library of legal reference materials in a separate room of the prison school, which is also near the central prison facilities. This area is accessible on a limited basis to all inmates of Blocks A, B, C and D. Inmates on Block E are not permitted access to these facilities.

4. The Clinic made these legal reference materials available for use in its law library to all Graterford inmates (except Block E inmates, whom the prison denied access to this area), but only Clinic members could remove the books from the Clinic's law library.

5. The Clinic also maintains five block offices in converted cells, one in each of Blocks A, B, C, D and E, in which case files are maintained. Case files pertaining to the cases of inmates residing on each block are kept in that block's Clinic office. There are now between 150 and 175 active files in the A Block office. In order for these files to be processed, Clinic members must have access to the block offices.

6. Clinic "members" are persons who provide legal assistance to other Graterford inmates as part of the Clinic program. There are approximately fifteen (15) to sixteen (16) active members of the Clinic at any time.

7. Clinic members work on both criminal and civil cases. The Clinic institutes and prosecutes Post Conviction Hearing Act cases, habeas corpus petitions, motions for new trials, direct appeals, motions in arrest of judgment, civil rights actions, misconduct hearings and any other actions pertaining to inmates' welfare. The Clinic also helps inmates to prepare letters to courts and to outside counsel, and to understand communications from courts and outside counsel to inmates.

8. Plaintiffs Wade, Vorhauer and Flynn are members of the Clinic. They have provided legal services to inmates of Blocks B, C, D and E in addition to inmates housed in Block A.

9. The services of Clinic members are offered without charge, although the members will accept gratuities after the rendering of legal services from the prisoners whom they have helped. Payment of such gratuities is not, however, a condition upon which the availability of members' services is based, and the by-laws of the Clinic prohibit members from receiving compensation from inmates.

10. Before January 12, 1978, the Clinic office on A Block was open from 9:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M., from 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. *681 and from 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. daily. Because it is located on the block, this office was readily accessible to A Block inmates during these hours.

11. Members of the A Block Clinic worked on cases from twelve to sixteen hours each day. The Clinic members were able to take files from the office into their cells and do additional work on inmates' cases while the Clinic was closed during the day and after the 9:00 P.M. closing of the office.

12. Graterford furnished the Clinic with writing supplies such as typewriter ribbons, writing paper and carbon paper for use in the legal representation of inmates.

13. Clinic members have provided on numerous occasions both adequate and successful legal representation for Graterford inmates who sought the services of the Clinic. Although much of the work of Clinic members involves the preparation of letters to courts, public defenders and government agencies, members of the Clinic have been involved in all stages of litigation on behalf of Graterford inmates.

14. In late 1977 plaintiff Wade performed legal services for plaintiff Madronal, including the filing of a state post-conviction action in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County. On December 14, 1977, Judge Frederic Weir of that court wrote to plaintiff Wade, advising Wade that he would appoint a public defender in the case but stating that he thought Wade could represent Madronal more capably than a public defender.

15. Many of the inmates who have availed themselves of the services of the Clinic and of the plaintiff Clinic members are indigent. Therefore, they are unable to retain counsel and are unable to buy writing materials such as paper and pens.

16. Plaintiff Madronal, who has a sixth-grade education, is unable to prepare legal documents in his own case. Approximately eighty percent (80%) of the inmates who have sought the services of plaintiff Vorhauer as a Clinic member are unable to read and comprehend legal reference materials, and approximately thirty to fifty percent (30%-50%) are functionally illiterate.

17. Graterford inmates seeking to bring civil actions are unable on many occasions to obtain court-appointed counsel. In addition, inmates are generally unable to obtain appointed counsel to ascertain whether they have claims upon which any relief can be granted.

18. Plaintiff Diaz is one of approximately forty-five (45) Spanish-speaking inmates at Graterford, thirty-five (35) of whom cannot read or write English. Although he has been enrolled in and has attended English language classes at Graterford, Diaz is unable to read with comprehension law books printed in English or to write in English. Consequently, plaintiff Diaz and the other Spanish-speaking inmates at Graterford must have available the services of others to make use of legal reference materials.

19. Before January 12, 1978, Clinic members were compensated by the prison at a very low rate for their work in providing legal services to others.

20. By representing inmates at very low compensation from Graterford and without fee from the inmates, Clinic members' services enabled courts to avoid incurring the expense of appointing counsel in many cases.

21. Graterford officials have planned to initiate a program for the representation of inmates by law students. These plans provide for three or four law students to come to Graterford for three hours each Friday evening, and they would be available only while school is in session. The law students would be completely unavailable during examination periods and during summer vacations. Upon his or her graduation from law school, furthermore, a student who has been handling a case would probably sever his or her connection with it entirely. Such a law student program would fail to provide to plaintiffs and other Graterford inmates adequate assistance in preparing their cases.

22. At a meeting in December 1977 of Graterford administrators and Clinic members, defendant Sims informed the Clinic *682 members that the Clinic would be closed on February 15, 1978, and that open cases would have to be "terminated" by the Clinic.

23. On January 12, 1978, defendant Cuyler promulgated a memorandum stating that the work of the Clinic would be phased out and that the Clinic would remain open on a limited basis until February 15, 1978. According to the memorandum, no new cases or new business could be accepted by the Clinic during this phasing out period.

24. The defendant Cuyler was acting in his official capacity when he informed Clinic members of the closing and when he promulgated and circulated the January 12, 1978, memorandum.

25. After the promulgation of the January 12, 1978, memorandum, the Clinic block offices were padlocked on January 16, 1978, making Clinic members unable to gain access to case files.

26. Members of the Clinic have been able to obtain only limited access to the Clinic block offices to process the files in cases and other matters already in progress.

27. It is the intention of Graterford officials to assign the Clinic members to other work in the prison. If a Clinic member is assigned to another full-time prison job, it is unlikely that he will have the time or energy to perform legal services for other inmates.

28. On February 16, 1978, the defendant Cuyler modified his memorandum of January 12, 1978, and extended the final closing date of the Clinic to March 17, 1978. This extension applied only to the main office, however, and not to the block offices. Furthermore, the proscription against new cases and new business remained in force.

29. Graterford opened an institution-wide law library for the use of inmates ("Prison Library") on January 16, 1978.

30. The following legal materials are not available in the Prison Library: Federal Reporter, 2d Series; Federal Rules Decisions; United States Supreme Court Reports; Title 28 of the United States Code, ss 2254 and 2255 and annotations thereto; Title 19 of Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated (Pennsylvania Criminal Procedure); Atlantic Reporter, 2d Series; many Pennsylvania case reporters; the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; and the Local Rules of Court for the United States District Courts for the Eastern District and Middle District of Pennsylvania.