ABOUT THE JLM

A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual (JLM) is a handbook of legal rights and procedures designed for use by currently incarcerated people. Since publication of the 1st Edition in 1978, tens of thousands of incarcerated people in institutions across the country have used A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual to exercise their legal rights. Currently incarcerated people are often indigent and lack access to legal counsel. The JLM informs those people of their legal rights and instructs them about how to secure these rights through the judicial process, clearly explaining legal research techniques and how to read legal documents. Currently incarcerated people may use the JLM to address specific problems related to their treatment in prison, or to attack their unfair convictions or sentences.

To date, more than two hundred correctional facilities across the United States have ordered the JLM, in large part due to the Supreme Court’s decision in Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817 (1977). Bounds requires states to provide incarcerated people with meaningful access to the judicial system, either through legal assistance programs or adequate law libraries. This influential opinion, written by Justice Marshall, and cited in over three hundred opinions in thirty-three states and eleven federal circuits, has had a dramatic impact on the ability of people to pursue their legal rights while in prison. The JLM can assist incarcerated people in effectively using the resources available to them in their prison law libraries. Many prison administrators have ordered the JLM as part of their efforts to build adequate law libraries, discovering that people find the book easy to use and relevant to issues that concern them.

The 13th edition was published the summer of 2024. With the needs of currently incarcerated people across the country in mind, the Columbia Human Rights Law Review has endeavored, to the extent feasible, to make the 13th Edition of the JLM useful to all who use it without regard to where they are incarcerated. The JLM covers a wide variety of topics and also includes a directory of legal and social services for incarcerated people around the country. The information on federal actions will be helpful to a person in a federal prison, or pursuing federal claims, no matter where they are located. The law, procedures and forms relating to state actions vary from state to state, however. Where possible, we provide information that is generally applicable, although we often use New York forms and procedures for specific illustrations. We regret that the size and scope of the book prevent us from providing forms and specific procedural information for all states. Nevertheless, people incarcerated outside New York will find the JLM a valuable research tool.

In the past few years, the United States Congress has created more obstacles to keep currently incarcerated people out of the courthouse. These new laws include the Prison Litigation Reform Act, which severely restricts a person’s ability to bring civil lawsuits while incarcerated, as well as their ability to be represented by an attorney. Similarly, the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act sharply limits the availability of the writ of habeas corpus, used by incarcerated people for centuries to challenge unlawful confinement. Finally, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act denied judicial review in many circumstances to immigrants that are ordered deported because of past criminal activity. The 13th Edition provides up-to-date information about changes in the law.

An important part of managing and revising the JLM is responding to the heavy volume of mail we receive from people who are currently incarcerated. We thank the many jailhouse lawyers whose helpful comments have contributed to improvements to in the JLM. We ask that readers of the manual continue to share with us their ideas and comments.

In short, we hope the JLM will help protect the rights of those currently incarcerated under the law. We urge dedicated jailhouse lawyers to continue to stand up for their rights and enforce their humanity against those who would try to deny it. Remember—the JLM stands behind you!