legal-research arrest pro-se prison detention
The right of self-represented detainee/prisoner to do legal research
<p>Bob is arrested awaiting bail or trial (or imprisoned after conviction) but is adamant to represent himself vs get a lawyer. (I agree that practically/tactically this will often be the wrong call even if Bob is a monster lawyer himself with all legal resources burned in his mind, but nevertheless).</p>
<p>Does he have a right to access resources to do his legal research? To access the internet, or specific sites only e.g. legislation, this site etc.? To go to a library?</p>
<p>(Please pick up a jurisdiction you can answer about and tag accordingly)</p>

<p><strong>1. United States</strong></p>
<p>It is recognized that the right to meaningful access to courts generally requires access to adequate resources under the Fourth Amendment.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;More importantly, [the U.S. Supreme] Court's experience indicates that <em>pro se</em> petitioners are capable of using lawbooks to file cases raising claims that are serious and legitimate [...] therefore, [] the fundamental constitutional right of access to the courts requires prison authorities to assist inmates in the preparation and filing of meaningful legal papers by providing prisoners with adequate law libraries or adequate assistance from persons trained in the law.&quot; <em>Bounds v. Smith</em>, <a href="https://casetext.com/case/bounds-v-smith#p828" rel="nofollow noreferrer">430 U.S. 817</a>, (1977)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since '77, plenty of cases attempted to unreasonably curtail limited this right — just a few examples:</p>
<p><strong>Generally, no right in unrelated matters</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;The tools [the constitution] requires to be provided are those that the inmates need in order to attack their sentences, directly or collaterally, and in order to challenge the conditions of their confinement. Impairment of any other litigating capacity is simply one of the incidental (and perfectly constitutional) consequences of conviction and incarceration.&quot; (<em>Lewis v. Casey</em>), <a href="https://casetext.com/case/lewis-v-casey#p351" rel="nofollow noreferrer">518 U.S. at 355</a> (1996)</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Right to adequate means in constitutional rights' violations</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;[L]aw libraries or other forms of legal assistance are needed to give prisoners a reasonably adequate opportunity to present claimed violations of fundamental constitutional rights to the courts.&quot; (<em>Bounds v. Smith</em>, <a href="https://casetext.com/case/bounds-v-smith#p825" rel="nofollow noreferrer">430 U.S. 817</a> (1977)</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>2. Minnesota</strong> (as of yesterday)</p>
<p><strong>No right acknowledged to internet, Electronic Law Library or even sites to legislation</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>When alleging that [one's] meaningful access to the courts has been denied, an inmate must allege that prison officials caused an “actual injury,” namely, that a “nonfrivolous (sic!) and arguably meritorious underlying legal claim” was frustrated or impeded. <em>White v. Kautzky</em>, 494 F.3d 677, 680 (8th Cir. 2007). Alleging a theoretical inadequacy is not sufficient. <em>Lewis</em>, 518 U.S. at 351. Rather, an inmate must show a causal connection between a library inadequacy and an actual injury. See <em>Entzi v. Redmann</em>, 485 F.3d 998, 1005 (8th Cir. 2007). Absent an explanation demonstrating how the alleged library inadequacy [in the operation of the Electronic Law Library] either prevented the inmate from filing an arguably meritorious legal claim or caused an arguably meritorious claim to be dismissed as deficient, the inmate's “alleged injuries are merely speculative.” <em>Hartsfield v. Nichols</em>, 511 F.3d 826, 833 (8th Cir. 2008)&quot; (<em>Biron v. Carvajal</em>, <a href="http://Biron%20v.%20Carvajal,%2020-cv-2110%20(WMW/ECW)%20(D.%20Minn.%20Sep.%2016,%202021)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">20-cv-2110 (WMW/ECW)</a> (D. Minn. Sep. 16, 2021)</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>3. United States</strong></p>
<p>See 1.</p>
