How to Get Free Legal Assistance for Inmates in Texas

The Legal Rights of Texas Prisoners

As a rule, prisoners are entitled to due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and have generally the same protections as a free citizen. However, they may not participate in class-action lawsuits. But that has not stopped them from possibly bringing an individual lawsuit for personal injury that is caused by negligent property damage or dangerous product. Prisoners may file civil actions without having to pay filing fees, court fees, and service of process fees. Under the Civil Justice and State Health Care Liability Acts, prisoners are limited in the amount of recovery in these types of lawsuits. When a prisoner is injured in prison by intentional torts—claims such as assault or a strip-search—prisoners can recover damages that include compensatory damage and actual damage. Prisoners cannot collect punitive damages as in a normal personal injury case.
In the past , winning these types of cases was difficult because reimbursement claims from the state were hard to collect. That has all changed recently when a federal judge ordered Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials to send the state the money it had collected in these personal injury cases. The state allegedly kept the money after a federal court ruled the prisoners could keep their settlement money under a 1996 law. The judge ruled that the 1996 law referred only to claims made before the law’s enactment so it did not apply to those made after it was signed by Governor George W. Bush. The legislature amended the law to give the TDJC more say in what level of care prisoners receive, which drastically changed these rights.

Groups Providing Free Legal Assistance in Texas

The following organizations and non-profits also provide free legal services for prisoners in Texas:
Texas Civil Rights Project: The Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) is a nonprofit law firm that represents low-income people of color, immigrants, women and children, people with disabilities, the elderly, homeless individuals, and others seeking equality and justice. TCRP has cooperated with imprisoned individuals on various civil lawsuits to target the systemic abuse of prisoners and to challenge inhumane conditions and treatment in Texas prisons. To submit a request for help, visit TCRP’s Prisoners’ Rights page.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): The ACLU’s Center for Human Rights & Global Justice and the ACLU of Texas collaborate with LDF and Texas Defender Service to provide legal representation and monitoring of the execution process. The groups file critical litigation and other challenges to fight for due process and stop executions.
The Texas Fair Defense Project (TFDP): The TFDP is a non-profit law office dedicated to ending the wrongful conviction of the innocent and wrongful incarceration of the indigent through comprehensive criminal legal services. TFDP’s Prison Law Unit provides legal representation to low-income incarcerated persons in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. TFDP generally accepts cases where the person is serving a sentence for a felony conviction, has less than 12 months left to serve, and is housed in state custody.

How to Apply for Free Legal Help

The eligibility requirements for prisoners to receive free legal assistance in Texas vary based on the type of legal issue at hand. For instance, prisoners must have an active case of their own to receive help from attorneys with The Prisoners’ Legal Assistance Project of the University of Texas School of Law, and must have been able to demonstrate an inability to do research and writing on their own. The inmates who receive assistance from the University of Houston Law Center’s Prisoner’s Legal Assistance Project are also active in the system, but do not necessarily have to show any disability or mental impairment to be eligible for help. They must be within two years of parole eligibility, have a non-frivolous civil case pending in Texas court, have no other source of legal advice, and be unable to afford legal representation.
The Texas Fair Defense Project generally helps the indigent accused on trial, but will also refer denial of parole applications to the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association for assistance. Applications on behalf of juvenile prisoners who have been sentenced to life without parole will be accepted, but the organization does not generally assist prisoners serving time for a transgression against their own free will, such as robbery.
Residence participation at an institution is taken into account in some organizations, while others focus specifically on the proximity of the prisoner to a local branch of the organization. In all cases, inmates must demonstrate financial need and provide documentation that includes a letter from the Prison Unit Classification Supervisor, a medical restriction summary and any prior address release papers. If the prisoner is being held for convictions related to substance abuse, a Department of Corrections written drug policy statement must also be provided.
In all cases, prisoners may ask their counselor or chaplain to request assistance from an organization. Individuals have the same right to receive personal visits and correspondence from their families and lawyers.

Common Legal Problems for Prisoners

Several types of legal issues may arise in the prison or jail context that can adversely affect a prisoner even after incarceration. The examples below are not an exhaustive list, but provide a good idea of the most common issues a prisoner might face. Appeals – a wide variety of legal issues arise during criminal proceedings, some of which can entitle a defendant to a new trial, dismissal of a charge or a reduction in sentence. Often these benefits are only available if the defendant files a timely appeal of the original conviction or a petition for post-conviction relief. Legal aid attorneys can help prepare and file these pleadings in Harris County. Parole Hearings – prisoners serving sentences for felony convictions are eligible for parole after a certain amount of time has been served. Although there are many factors that the Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) will consider, a good record while incarcerated is almost always a requisite to getting a parole. Unfortunately the BPP makes decisions about parole eligibility without always taking those factors into account. Legal aid attorneys can help with a request for a parole hearing and representation at such a hearing. Denial of Parole and Other Disciplinary Proceedings – sometimes a prisoner is released from incarceration at a parole hearing only to have that release denied because of some technicality that takes place after the granting of parole. The various institutional rules and procedures can involve an extensive hearing and a full-blown administrative trial. Often the rules and hearings are difficult to understand and unfair. An attorney with experience in such matters can help with this process. Civil Rights Violations – prisoners who are subject to abuse by prison guards or other inmates can request relief in court, sometimes called a tort lawsuit, for actions and behaviors that contravene their civil rights. Sometimes the abuse can result in serious injury. A civil rights attorney can assist in helping the injured party get money in the form of damages or money judgment.

Obtaining Legal Aid in Texas Prisons

The process of getting legal help in Texas prisons is relatively straightforward, but like any bureaucratic system, it can be difficult to navigate and require some preparation. The general process is as follows:

• Prisoners initiate contact by asking the prison law librarian to prepare a Request for Legal Aid Services on the prisoner’s behalf.
• Prison law librarians will need to verify the prisoner’s eligibility for legal aid services from the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, and will check the prison data base for pending and/or past cases.
• The prisoner will need to fill out paperwork detailing general legal information.
• Prison law librarians will review the paperwork and determine if they can serve as a contract attorney on the case or if it requires referral to a pro bono attorney.
• If the case involves a matter that the prison law librarian believes may not mandatory service as defined by Texas Access to Justice Foundation , then the inmate’s request will be forwarded to the smooth process and people to check if it qualifies for assistance.
• Once the process is complete, the prisoner will be assigned a Texas Access to Justice Foundation Pro Bono Project attorney.

Someone who is seeking legal assistance must send their documents to be reviewed by the prison law librarian before the request is sent to the Texas Access to Justice Foundation Pro Bono Project.
If you are not sure that your case qualifies for assistance with the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, it is always best to request legal assistance before assuming that your case is not seen as a mandatory case and therefore, does not qualify for assistance. If it turns out you do not qualify for assistance, you will find out quickly and will not have wasted any time.

Legal Aid Interventions that Work

Consider the case of Jason, a Texas inmate who was sentenced to 30 years for a robbery he had committed. Even though his conviction had occurred in another city, for some reason Jason was still incarcerated at one of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison units that had been requested to act as a holding facility for the 1999 Rugby Unit riot, which resulted in an overwhelming number of inmates coming into the system from 26 TDCJ units that were also sent there pending the resolution of the legal claims raised in an unrelated class action lawsuit. See, e.g., Harbury v. Decker, 2:98-CV-0387 (N.D. Tex.). The Rugby Unit’s maximum capacity was reduced from 1,800 to 1,232 inmates, and inmates who would have been sent there could be housed in other units while their legal claims were pending. Later, Jason, determined to be a maximum security inmate, was transferred to the Michael Unit in Anderson County, Texas. While there, he wrote to TDCJ requesting a placement review, but he did not receive a response. He appealed that failure to respond. Nothing happened for several months. Finally, Jason decided to write an attorney to seek assistance. After the attorney took on his case, Jason was given a second chance, and a Senior Warden reviewed his placement. It was determined that he should be placed in a G1 unit, which is a unit for good and tentative parole recommendation (TPR) inmates. In Jason’s case, his G1 placement was sufficient to keep him off of the U.S. Department of Justice list identifying the worst 20 percent of prisoners in the Union with the most restrictive conditions of confinement and treatment. Today, Jason is on maximum-security parole for a mandatory period. He served about two-thirds of his sentence and is out on parole until 2018. This time he’s focused on getting on track and staying out of jail by being productive in the free world. He isn’t too worried about returning to prison. However, not all stories end on a positive note. Rebecca was sentenced to about seven years for a crime that she allegedly committed when she was high on crystal meth. When she got into trouble again after a border patrol officer arrested her for using a false ID, Rebecca was sent to the Joe Ney Unit in mid-2010. She was an inmate there for two years when she was transferred to the Hughes Unit. While there, she managed to access the unit’s law library and finished her GED. She also sought help from a legal aid group that offered free civil legal assistance to Galveston-area inmates. According to Rebecca, such services are extremely important to inmates. Before Rebecca sought legal assistance, she had learned that she had about $4,000 in an account she did not understand. As her sentence drew to a close, Rebecca sought assistance from a legal aid group and asked questions about her account so that when she got out, she would know what to do with the money. She now knows about wills, medical power of attorneys and how her funds would be spent on her books.

Difficulties of Providing Free Legal Aid in Prisons

For volunteer and state-supported organizations that have to shoulder the burden of fighting for prisoner’s rights, the scope of the job can be staggering. Problems include inadequate resources, ineffective programs, lack of staff, and lack of training.
Funding
Cash flow can be a major issue for many of these groups. Expenses include, but are not limited to: overhead, supplies, salaries, inmate resources, and trainings. While it is true that programs run by the state often don’t have difficulty securing funding from the state government, nonprofit organizations often rely heavily on grants from private donors and private entities in order to raise enough money to meet their needs.
Still , some organizations have enough resources; they simply don’t raise attention to their services. Some client-claimed that they did not know the hotline numbers within their region.
Logistics
Geography can play a major role in availability. Many populations have access to services only three or four days per week. Further, some facilities charge inmates a $1 per day fee in order to use their services. And due to overcrowding, people often do not receive timely updates or evaluations regarding their cases.
Staffing
Some facilities offer little or no administrative support and some organizations have to go without. In a program with such a huge caseload, services may suffer due to lack of workers.
Shortcomings in the above three areas can have a snowball effect on availability. For example, a state-supported organization may not have the ability to promote their services, and funding or facility support may force their volunteers to reduce their schedules.