Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

A federal judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ended on April 16, 2010 a long-standing lawsuit, Gilmore v. State of California, relating to inmate access to law libraries and legal documents at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The Gilmore case began in 1966, when inmates from San Quentin State Prison filed an action concerning their access to law books and the courts. In 1972, the court ordered an injunction requiring California to maintain a specified list of legal literature in its prisons to help inmates access the courts.

In December 2009, CDCR implemented revised regulations that provided additional rights for inmates to access the law library. CDCR's new regulations require that all inmates, regardless of their classification or housing status be entitled to physical law library that is sufficient to provide meaningful access to the courts. The new regulations require CDCR to maintain, at a minimum, the complete and updated material required at each prison that were set forth in the Gilmore Injunction.