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Constitutional Law Keyed to Chemerinsky
Bounds v. Smith
Citation:
430 U.S. 817 (1977)Facts
The respondents were inmates incarcerated in various correctional facilities of the North Carolina Department of Correction. They filed three separate actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which were consolidated in the District Court. The inmates alleged that they were denied access to the courts in violation of their Fourteenth Amendment rights because the state failed to provide adequate legal research facilities. At the time, North Carolina had approximately 13,000 inmates housed in 77 prison units across 67 counties, with only one severely inadequate prison library in the entire state. The District Court found in favor of the inmates and ordered the state to develop a constitutionally sound program. North Carolina responded by proposing to establish seven law libraries strategically located across the state to serve all prison units. The plan included transportation arrangements for inmates to use the libraries, as well as training for inmate research assistants. The District Court approved this plan with minor modifications, but the Court of Appeals found that the plan discriminated against women prisoners and ordered this discrimination eliminated.
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