On April 6, 1987, an inmate in the Capital Sentences Unit (CSU) at the Trenton State Prison filed a pro se lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the New Jersey Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants had violated his constitutional right to access to the courts by denying him access to the prison law library, and he asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief.

On August 11, 1987, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (Judge Anne Thompson) granted the plaintiff's request for a preliminary injunction, denied the defendants' motion for summary judgment, and ordered the plaintiff and the defendants to submit proposals within 30 days for a plan which will more adequately provide CSU inmates with meaningful legal access. Long v. Beyer, 1987 WL 16769 (D.N.J. Aug. 11, 1987).

On January 11, 1988, the district court (Judge Thompson) issued an injunction against the defendants with the following orders: 1) the prison may assign one staff person to coordinate the legal services for the CSU, and four paralegals should be named to assist the inmates in the CSU; 2) the paralegals should be available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; 3) inmates should submit legal request forms to the wing officer, who will record and handle all requests on a daily basis, and the defendants will have ten days to supply the material to the inmates; 4) no assistance will be provided by the law library concerning any matter which is being handled by an attorney; 5) inmate paralegals must be approved by the CSU officers, and they will not be strip searched because they will communicate with the inmates through a visitor's window; 6) inmates in the CSU will be allowed copies of only five cases for each two-week period. Long v. Beyer, 676 F.Supp. 75 (D.N.J. 1988). We have no further information on the proceedings in this case.

Kristen Sagar - 08/06/2007


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