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§ 3122. Inmate Law Library.

15 CA ADC § 3122Barclays Official California Code of RegulationsEffective: January 31, 2024

Barclays California Code of Regulations
Title 15. Crime Prevention and Corrections
Division 3. Adult Institutions, Programs and Parole
Chapter 1. Rules and Regulations of Adult Operations and Programs (Refs & Annos)
Subchapter 2. Inmate Resources
Article 3. Confidentiality and Privacy
Effective: January 31, 2024
15 CCR § 3122
§ 3122. Inmate Law Library.
Currentness
(a) Each facility shall provide legal materials through its law library to provide inmates with meaningful access to the courts.
(b) Inmates who have established court deadlines may apply for Priority Legal User (PLU) status to the prison law libraries. Inmates who are granted PLU status based on their application shall receive higher priority to prison law library resources than other inmates. All inmates who are not on PLU status are on General Legal User (GLU) status.
(1) An established court deadline may be either a court imposed deadline for an active case or a statutory deadline. Inmates who apply for PLU status based on a court imposed deadline must show documentation from the court to verify that deadline. Inmates who apply for PLU status based on a statutory deadline must identify the legal rule that compels the deadline.
(2) An inmate who is represented by an attorney for a case shall not be eligible for PLU status for any established court deadline pertaining to that case. An inmate with attorney representation for the established court deadline shall be entitled to GLU status only.
(3) Inmates shall complete and sign a CDCR Form 2171 (Rev. 9/09), Priority Library User (PLU) Request and Declaration, which is incorporated by reference, to apply for PLU status. The Form 2171 shall include check boxes for inmates to designate their established court deadlines. The Form 2171 shall also include a check box for inmates to confirm that they do not have attorney representation for their listed deadline.
(4) Except under extraordinary circumstances beyond staff control, law library staff shall have seven calendar days after receipt of the completed and signed Form 2171 to process an inmate's application for PLU status and make a decision to approve or disapprove the application. Staff members who disapprove an inmate's application shall provide the reasons for their disapproval on the form and shall provide a copy of that document to the inmate.
(5) An inmate who is found to have provided false information on his or her application for PLU status shall be guilty of an administrative rule violation and shall not be able to obtain PLU status based on that application.
(6) An inmate may receive PLU status within 30 calendar days of his or her established court deadline unless the inmate can demonstrate need for a longer period of PLU status based on extraordinary circumstances beyond the inmate's control.
(7) PLU status is intended to assist inmates to do legal work in a quiet law library setting. An inmate on PLU status who, while in the law library, is observed by staff to act in an unreasonably disruptive manner or to engage in non-legal work shall be removed from the PLU list and shall be dismissed from the library for that day. Inmates who are removed from the PLU list for these reasons shall be ineligible to reapply for PLU status for 30 calendar days, but may continue to use the law library on GLU status.
(c) Following initial classification and custody designation, condemned inmates shall automatically be granted PLU status until the automatic appeal of the conviction resulting in the sentence of death is exhausted or the inmate is resentenced by a court to a term other than a death sentence. After exhaustion of the appeal or resentencing, section 3122(b) shall apply.
(d) Inmates may not in any way trade, transfer, or delegate their PLU status to other inmates. An inmate who assists another inmate in the preparation of legal documents, as described in section 3163, may not use the PLU status of the inmate being assisted.
(e) An inmate in a facility without a law library and requesting access to such resources shall be transferred to a facility with a law library of departmental choosing for the period of time needed to complete legal work.

Credits

Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Section 5054, Penal Code; Gilmore v. Lynch, 319 F.Supp. 105 (N.D. Cal. 1970); Toussaint v. McCarthy, 801 F.2d 1080 (9th Cir. 1986); Toussaint v. McCarthy, USDC N.D. Cal. No. C 73-1422 SAW, First Special Report of the Monitor, August 19, 1987; and Toussaint v. Rowland, USDC N.D. Cal. No. C 73-1422 SAW, Second Special Report of the Monitor, June 30, 1988; Zatko v. Rowland, 835 F.Supp. 1174 (N.D. Cal. 1993); and Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343 (1996).
History
1. Amendment filed 10-7-82; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 82, No. 41).
2. Renumbering and amendment of former section 3121 to section 3122 and renumbering and amendment of former section 3122 to section 3121 filed 6-30-93; operative 7-30-93 (Register 93, No. 27).
3. Amendment of subsection (a), new subsections (b)-(c), subsection relettering and amendment of Note filed 11-24-2009; operative 12-24-2009 (Register 2009, No. 48).
4. New subsection (c) and subsection relettering filed 1-31-2024; operative 1-31-2024 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2024, No. 5).
This database is current through 5/10/24 Register 2024, No. 19.
Cal. Admin. Code tit. 15, § 3122, 15 CA ADC § 3122
End of Document