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| Fla. Inmates Lose Typewriters, Computers |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/06/2001 |
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Worrying inmates and civil liberties lawyers, Florida has gotten rid of computers and typewriters in its prison law libraries, meaning some prisoners will have to draw up legal appeals in longhand. The Corrections Department removed the devices last month, saying it was necessary to save money. But prisoner advocates think the state wants to make it tougher for inmates to challenge their convictions, sentences and prison conditions. 'Anything they can do to limit what inmates can do, they're going to do,' said Peter Siegel, a lawyer with the Florida Justice Institute. With 71,000 inmates, Florida has the fifth-largest prison system in the nation, behind California, Texas, the federal government and New York. Florida has executed 51 inmates since 1979, trailing only Texas and Virginia, and has 371 people on death row. The institute has received two dozen complaints from inmates who believe their legal motions will be treated less seriously if they are not typed. Kara Gotsch of the American Civil Liberties Union said that is a reasonable fear. 'When it's handwritten, it's not as effective for them,' said Gotsch, public policy coordinator for the ACLU's National Prison Project. Gotsch said not all states provide law libraries in prisons, choosing instead to offer paralegal assistance or attorneys. Rebecca Trammell, who chairs a committee on inmate library services for the American Association of Law Libraries, said she thinks most state prisons provide typewriters to prisoners. Allen Overstreet, who oversees library services for the state Corrections Department, said half the prison law libraries have not had typewriters for years. Eliminating the rest should save an estimated $50,000 a year on repairs and upkeep. Overstreet also said only a small percentage of Florida's inmates use the law libraries, probably around 5 percent. Death row inmates have state-paid attorneys for their appeals and do not have access to the law libraries. The state considered removing the typewriters for several years but waited until a 1971 lawsuit over inmate access to legal materials was over. That lawsuit, which prompted the state to open law libraries in the late 1970s, was dismissed in December by a federal judge who ruled that its original problems had been corrected. Law libraries in four Florida prisons do still have computers available to inmates to research legal materials stored on CD-ROMs - but they cannot be used as word processors, Overstreet said. 'This is just another nail in the coffin,' Siegel said, citing the decision last year to abolish hobby crafts on death row and limit private property, such as extra clothing and radios. 'We've ranked at the bottom of the pit for a long time.' |
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