Prison lawyers, inmates with legal knowledge, help other prisoners with legal matters and can provide valuable legal services. They assist in drafting documents, provide legal advice and sometimes file briefs on behalf of other inmates. Prisoners often lack access to legal aid, making prison attorneys a mechanism to ensure inmates get legal assistance. Some prison lawyers are legal scholars and can help with civil actions related to life outside of prison. However, concerns have been raised about their ability to provide useful legal advice.
A prison lawyer is an inmate with some knowledge of the law who assists other inmates with legal matters. Technically, only lawyers are allowed to practice law, but prison lawyers are allowed some leeway, for a variety of reasons. Columbia Law School publishes a guide for inmates that help inmates with legal matters and updates it regularly, and prison attorneys have also been debated at echelons as high as the US Supreme Court.
Some inmates are illiterate or have had very little education. This puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to dealing with the law because they may not understand the legal issues. Also, they cannot answer or prepare legal documents. A prison attorney can help these inmates secure their legal rights. Prison attorneys assist in drafting documents, provide legal advice, and sometimes even file briefs on behalf of other inmates; prison lawyers have succeeded in some cases in successfully advocating for the release of other inmates.
Prisoners often lack access to legal aid. While inmates are supposed to be able to consult lawyers by law, many inmates cannot afford a lawyer. Legal programs that provide free legal aid are unable to help all prisoners. The prison attorney provides a mechanism to ensure that inmates get legal assistance. However, such inmates have also been criticized over concerns that they may fail to provide useful legal advice or that prisons may rely on prison lawyers rather than secure trainee lawyers for their inmates.
Some prison lawyers are legal scholars. In addition to reading books in the prison law library, a prison attorney may correspond with other members of the legal community, read trade publications, and even complete graduate degrees remotely. While these inmates are not allowed to take the bar exam because they are in prison, they may be just as educated and qualified as full-fledged practicing lawyers. These prison lawyers can provide valuable legal services to their fellow inmates.
In addition to helping inmates with appeals, legal document answers, and other matters related to why they are in prison, a prison attorney can also assist with other matters. Inmates can bring civil actions, including lawsuits against prison, and prison attorneys can help inmates with this process and familiarize themselves with their legal rights. They can also help with other civil matters related to life outside of prison, such as child custody cases, divorces, and so on.
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