ABSTRACT
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 fundamental constitutional right of access to the courts held to require prison authorities to assist inmates in the preparation and filing of meaningful legal papers by providing prisoners with adequate law libraries or adequate assistance from persons trained in the law. The District Court found petitioners to be in violation of Bounds and issued an injunction mandating detailed, systemwide changes in Arizona department of corrections prison law libraries and in its legal assistance programs. Bounds’ meaningful access requirement can be satisfied in various ways, and state legislatures and prison administrators must be given “wide discretion” to select appropriate solutions from a range of complex options.
