This page was created for our students in the Prison Legal Services clinic.  Resources relating to habeas and post-conviction relief can be found on the Complex Federal Litigation clinic page.

Connecticut Resources | Federal Resources | FTCA | Bivens | §1983 | PLRA

Prisoners' Rights | Health Services | Social Science Dbs | Statistics | Internet Resources

Connecticut Resources

• Connecticut General Statutes - KFC 3630 1958 .A43 - L3 Reading Room | Westlaw | Lexis | Connectiut General Assembly
• Connecticut Practice Book - KFC 3680 .C65 - L3 Reading Room | also available from the Connecticut Judicial Branch
• Connecticut Practic Series - KFC 3680 .C65 - L3 Reading Room | Westlaw (Civil Practice Forms and much more)
• State of Connecticut Department of Correction
  • Administrative Directives
  • Exhaustion: Administrative Directive 9.6 (English and Spanish) - Inmate Grievances
  • Inmate Search
  • Connecticut Department of Corrections (current); Administrative Directives (3 volumes) - LSO Library
  • Connecticut Department of Corrections (1999). Objective Classification Manual - LSO LIbrary; also see Admin. Dir. Ch.9: Classification
  • Connecticut Prisoner Information - collection of 1990s literature - LSO Library
• State of Connecticut Office of Claims Commissioner Resources:
  • Procedures for Filing a Claim
  • Injury Claim Form and Procedure
  • Connecticut Regulations
  • General Statutes of Connecticut, Sec.4-141 et al: Claims against the State; 2008 Supplement (3 sections affected)
• State of Connecticut Judicial Branch Resources:
  • Civil Case Look-up - short calendars, assignment lists, case detail, and party name inquiries
  • Supreme/Appellate Court Docket
  • Calendar Notices
  • Connecticut Forms
• Other helpful Internet resources
  • Federal Public Defender for the District of Connecticut
  • A Public Defender - Connecticut Legal News - blog

Federal Resources

• United States Code (U.S.C.) - official - GPO Access | KF62 - L3 Reading Room
• United State Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) - unofficial - Westlaw | KF62.5 .W45 - L3 Reading Room
• United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) - unofficial - Lexis | KF62.5 .L38 - L3 Reading Room
• Relevant Statutes
  • PLRA - Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321, H.R. 3019,  (full-text from DOJ); See also GPO Access txt version; codified as amended in scattered titles and sections of the U.S.C.
  • Federal Tort Claims Act (1946), 60 Stat. 842,  28 U.S.C. § 1346 and 28 U.S.C. § 2671–2680
• General Federal Practice Materials
  • Local Rules of Practice in Connecticut Federal District Court
  • Hertz, Randy and Liebman, James S. (2001 with 2006 supplement). Federal Habeas Corpus Practice and Procedure - KF9011 .L54 - L4 and Permanent Reserve (behind the Circulation Desk on L3)
  • Bender, Matthew -  Federal Practice Forms. Annotations and Cross-references to Moore's Federal Practice, 2nd ed., by Louis R. Frumer (Vol. 17: Postconviction) - Lexis | KF8836 .M38 - L4
  • Lawyer's Coop - Federal Procedural Forms (Vol. 10B: Habeas corpus) - KF8836 .F4 - L4
  • Moore, James W. - Moore's Federal Practice (3rd ed.) (Vol. 20A, Ch. 322: Habeas corpus and section 2255 proceedings) - KF8820 .A313 M632 - L4
  • West's Federal Forms - KF8836 .W4 - L4
  • Wright & Miller - Federal Practice & Procedure - Westlaw | KF8840 .W68 - L3 Reference, L4
  • U.S. Sentencing Commission - Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual - KF9685.A875 - L4 and LSO
  • Wilkes, Jr., Donald E. (1996 with 2007 supplement). Federal Postconviction Remedies and Relief: With Forms - KF9690 W542 - L
• Federal Bureau of Prisons
  • Policies / Program Statements
  • Inmate Locator
  • FCI-Danury

FTCA - Federal Tort Claims Act

• Federal Tort Claims Act, 60 Stat. 842, 28 U.S.C. § 1346 and 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671–2680
• Congressional Research Service Report for Congress - December 11, 2007 (pdf) - FTCA exlained in detail; also discusses Bivens and 1983 actions in relation to lawsuits brought against law enforcment; excelent citations to ALR articles, treatises, and other secondary sources
• Resource: Federal Tort Claims Act Annotated (Westlaw: FEDTORT)
• Leading Cases:
  • Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692 (2004)
  • Will v. Hallock, 546 U.S. 345 (2006) (2nd Cir. case)

Bivens Actions

• Leading Cases:
  • Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
  • Carlson v. Green, 446 U.S. 14, 18-19 (1980)
  • Correctional Services Corp. v. Malesko, 534 U.S. 61 (2001)

42 U.S.C.  §1983 Resources

• Treatises and Manuals
  • Schwartz, Martin (2009). Section 1983 Litigation - KF1325 .C58 S3612 - L4
  • Schwartz, Martin. Section 1983 Litigation Claims and Defenses - Westlaw (SNETLCD)
  • Federal Judicial Center. Section 1983 Litigation - Westlaw (SEC1983LIT)
  • Steinglass, Steven. Section 1983 Litigation in State Courts - Westlaw (S1983LITIG)
  • Collins, Michael G. (2006). Section 1983 Litigation in a Nutshell - KF1325 .C58 C65 - L4 | Westlaw (SEC1983-NS)
  • Ross, Mary Massaron and Voss, Edwin (2006). Sword and Shield: A Practical Approach to Section 1983 Litigation - KF1325.C58 S96 - L4
  • Nahmod, Sheldon H. (2004). Constitutional Torts - KF1306 .C64 N34 - L4
  • Nahmod, Sheldon H. (1993). A Section 1983 Civil Rights Anthology - KF1325 .C58 S388 - L4
  • Nahmod, Sheldon H. (1991). Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Litigation: The Law of Section 1983 - KF1325 .C58 N34 - L4

PLRA - Prisoner Litigation Reform Act

• Legislation
  • Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321, H.R. 3019,  (full-text from DOJ); See also GPO Access txt version (codified as amended in scattered titles and sections of the U.S.C.)
  • Testimony on PLRA - Testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security on the Prison Litigation Reform Act - Stephen Bright, Caroline Fredrickson, John Gibbons, Elizabeth Alexander, Jeanne Woodford, Ernie Preate & SAVE - April 22, 2008; Margaret Schlanger, Elizabeth Alexander, David Keene, Garrett Cunningham, Pat Nolan, and SAVE - Nov. 8, 2007 (Entire Hearing .pdf)
  • Reams, Bernard D. and Manz, William H. (1997). A Legislative History of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 Pub. L. no. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 - KF9731 .A32 A15 - L4 - Yale Law Library
  • Preserving the Rule of Law in America’s Prisons: The Case for Amending the Prison Litigation Reform Act - Margo Schlanger & Giovanna Shay - March 2007 (pdf)
• Leading Cases:
  • Jones v. Bock
    • Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 127 S. Ct. 910, 166 L. Ed. 2d 798 (2007); Docket No. 05-7058, Jan. 22, 2007 - Oyez | Cornell LII
    • From Oyez: The Court ruled unanimously that the Sixth Circuit's rules for exhaustion of administrative remedies were not required by the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act. The opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts held that prisoners bring civil rights lawsuits do not need to demonstrate that they have already exhausted all administrative remedies
    • CRS Report for Congress - Supreme Court Decision in Jones v. Bock: Exhaustion Requirements under the Prison Litigation Reform Act - March 6, 2007 (pdf)
    • Jones v. Bock: New Clarity under the PLRA, 2 Duke J. Const. L. & Pub. Pol'y 1 (2007, online ediion) by Squire Servance
  • Woodford v. Ngo
    • Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 126 S. Ct. 2378, 165 L. Ed. 2d 368 (2006); Docket No. 05-416, June 22, 2006 - Oyez | Cornell LII
    • From Oyez:  In a 6-to-3 decision authored by Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court held that a prisoner must properly exhaust any available administrative remedies before bringing suit in federal court
    • LSO's Amicus Brief - includes a chart summarizing prison grievance policies from jurisdictions nationwide
• Exhaustion in Connecticut
  • Exhaust using Administrative Directive 9.6 - Inmate Administrative Remedies (English & Spanish pdfs) in Chapter 9 - Classification 
  • Medical claims:
    • state/administrative claims - negligence
    • constitutional claims - deliberate indifference to a serious medical need
• Treatises and Manuals
  • Boston, John (2004). The Prison Litigation Reform Act - LSO Library
  • John Boston's 2nd Cir. Court of Appeals Staff Attorney Orientation on PLRA - Sept. 14, 2004 (pdf)
  • ACLU's Know Your Rights: The Prison Litigation Reform Act - Nov. 2002 (pdf)
  • Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual - Planning your PLRA suit (begins on p. 9) (pdf)
• Literature

  • Legally Sanctioned Negligence - Commentary by Giovana Shay - March 23, 2007
  • Margaret Schlanger collection, including Inmate Litigation, 116 Harv. L.R. 1555 (2003)
• Prison Litigation: A Conference for Plaintiffs' Attorneys, George Washington Law School, March 2008

  • Stephen Bright on Prison Reform in the Era of the Roberts
  • John Boston & Michael Bien on Coping with the PLRA
  • Course Materials such as guides to prison litigation and PLRA; username/password available from Pro Bono Net, for which you must register to access (free registration)

Prisoners' Rights Resources

• Treatises and Books 
  • Stern, Peter, Dignam, Brett, Tegeler, Philip, and Bass, Eric (1997). Connecticut Prisoners' Rights (A publication of the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale Law School) - KFC4188.5 .S74 - L3 Reading Room, LES, and LS
  • Mushlin, Michael B. (2002 with 2008 supplement; 3 volumes). Rights of Prisoners - KF9731 .G6 - L4 and LSO | Westlaw
  • Reese, Renford (2006). Prison Race - HV9950 .R434X - UES
  • Branham, Lynn S. (2005). The Law and Policy of Sentencing and Corrections in a Nutshell - KF9728 .Z9 .B73
  • Branham, Lynn S. and Hamden, Michael S. (2005). Cases and Materials on the Law of Sentencing, Corrections, and Prisoners' Rights (7th ed.) - KF9728.A7 K7 - L4
  • Toone, Robert E. (2002). Protecting Your Health and Safety: Prisoners Rights
  • Anderson, James F. and Dyson, Laronistine (2001). Legal Rights of Prisoners: Cases and Comments - KF9731 .A7 A53 - L4
  • Rafter, Nicole H. (1999). Prisons in America: A Reference Handbook - HV9471 .R36 - UES
  • Manville , Daniel and Boston, John (1983). Prisoners' Self-help Litigation Manual - KF9731 .M36 - L4
• Internet Resources
  • Prison Activist Resource Center
  • Prison Legal News
  • Prison Legal News Links - miscellaneous resources for prisoners
  • The Other Side of the Wall - prison resources
  • Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual

Prison Health Services

• Federal Bureau of Prisons
  • USDOJ, OIG Audit Report: The Federal Bureau of Prison's Efforts to Manage Inmate Health Care - February 2008 (large pdf)
  • USDOJ, OIG Semiannual Report to Congress - BOP's Efforts to Manage Health Care Costs - March 2008
  • Clinical Practice Guidelines
  • Medical Care
  • Metal Health Treatment & Counseling
• National Organizations
  • National Commission on Correctional Health Care
  • American Correctional Associations' Standards for Health Services
• Connecticut Department of Corrections
  • Administrative Directive Chapter 8 - Health Care Service, Hygiene and Sanitation
  • Administrative Directive 9.6 - Inmate Administrative Remedies (English & Spanish pdfs) in Chapter 9 - Classification
  • Health & Addiction Services
• Researching Mental Health & Medical Issues
  • Perlin, Michael (2008). Mental Health Issues in Jails & Prisons: Cases & Materials - KF9731 .P47 - L4
  • DSM (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders DSM-IV) - e-books from the DSM library via Psychiatry Online (Yale subscription) | Also available in print through YUL
  • Consult Lexis's Total Litigator Database for medical research and search by injury/disorder. 
  • Westlaw's Medical Litigator Database
  • PubMed - service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 18 million citations from MedLine and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to 1948; includes links to full text articles and other related resources
  • MedLine - produced by the National Library of Medicine; provides extensive coverage of the world's biomedical journal literature (Yale subscription)
  • Web of Science - thousand of science journals (Yale subscription)
  • Yale Medical Library homepage - quick access to medical databases, ejournals and other materials
• News and Reports
  • Harsh Medicine - New York Times three-part series by Paul von Zielbauer and an editorial on health care in NY prisons
    • As Health Care in Prison goes Private, 10 days can be a Death Sentence - Feb. 27, 2005
    • In City's Jails, Missed Signals Open Wy to Season of Suicides - Feb. 28, 2005
    • A Spotty Resord of Health Care at Juvenile Sites in New York - March 1, 2005 
    • Death Behind Bars - editorial - March 10, 2008
  • Evaluation of Medical Care Provider in the City's Jail is Questioned - NYT, Paul von Zielbauer - Dec. 26, 2005
  • Jail Health Care Fails Again - NYT, Paul von Zielbauer, Jan. 27, 2006
  • Democracy Now interview with Paul von Zielbaur
  • Prison Activist Resource Center: Medical Neglect Behind Bars
• Internet Resources
  • HIV/AIDS in Prisons links
  • Right to Medical Care (begins on p.18 of the Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual - pdf)
  • Prisoner Diabetes Handbook - for prisoners by prisoners (pdf)

Psych & Social Science Databases

• Academic Search (EbscoHOST) - popular and scholarly material*
• JSTOR - multi-disciplinary journals*
• PsycINFO (EbscoHOST) - international coverage of professional and academic literature*
• PsychINFO (Ovid) - international coverage of professional and academic literature*
• Sociological Abstracts - indexes and abstracts articles, books, book chapters, etc.*
• Social Science Full Text - indexes and abstracts articles plus full text of selected periodicals*
• Social Sciences Citation Index - access to bibliographic information, author abstracts, and references from over 8,500 research journals*
• Social Science Research Network - working papers and networking opportunities
• Other University Library Databases
  
  * denotes subscription database with access to Yale community only

Statistics

• TRACfed - statistics from Syracuse University's TRAC project on Critical Criminology.
• FedStats - many general statistics (including corrections)
• Bureau of Justice Statistics - many stats, including Prisons; Expenditures
• Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center - full data sets
• National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
• Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics - extensive statistics on the criminal justice system
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service - corrections publications
• National Institute of Corrections

Various Internet Resources

• Listserv and Blogs
  • ProBono Net - listserv, e-library, news and more on a variety of topics
    • Prisoners' Rights Section (registration and approval required)
    • Death Penalty Section
  • A Public Defender - by a Connecticut public defender
  • Crime and Consequences - by the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation - Habeas discussion
  • Decision of the Day - a daily summary of the best (and worst) of federal appellate decisions
  • Habeas Corpus Review - news and commentary on the "Great Writ of Liberty" and the death penalty
  • Sentencing Law and Policy - a member of the Law Professor Blogs Network
  • SCOTUS blog - Supreme Court of the United States blog
• National Organizations
  • NACDL - National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
    • NAACDL's Guide to the Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005
    • NACDL's Publication: The Champion - also available on Westlaw
    • The Champion's excellent Primer on Habeas Corpus (June 2005)
    • NACDL's Amicus brief in Abdur'Rhaman v. Warden dealing with the exhaustion of state remedies
    • NACDL's sample motion dealing with exhaustion of administrative remedie
• Capital Defense Weekly
  • CDW's brief bank
  • CDW's list of resources
• Captial Defense Network - contains habeas updates, briefs, case summaries, and more
• Human Rights Watch:
  • Prisons - reports, news, etc.
  • No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons
• ACLU National Prison Project: Prisoners' Rights
• Amnesty International's report on Women's Human Rights in U.S. prisons
• Free Legal Resources
  • Cornell's Legal Information Institute (U.S. Code, Federal Rules, USSC cases, and more)
  • Official website of the Supreme Court of the United States
  • Government Printing Office - GPO Access (U.S. Code, C.F.R., Fed. Reg., other free government information)
  • Home page of the Federal Judiciary
• American Correctional Association - publications
• American Jail Association - publications
• American Society of Criminology (ASC) and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS):
  • Critical Criminology
  • Government Data