Access to Justice in Short-Term Detention

• In Event: Pre-Trial and Short Term Detention

Abstract

While inmates’ access to the courts is perhaps their most important constitutional right, there is a paucity of research on how jail inmates are given access to legal resources. This paper provides an overview of the correctional legal history that led to the establishment of law libraries and legal resources in correctional facilities and gives examples of how inmates’ right to access the courts is variously granted. The paper discusses some of the challenges in providing legal resources especially within short-term facilities and presents some preliminary research findings on how access to justice is provided to jail inmates across Virginia.

Author

• Blythe A. Bowman, Virginia Commonwealth University