An inmate who is no longer able to afford ongoing legal representation must often pursue his legal remedies as a pro se litigant. This task can be doubly difficult for the prisoner pro se litigant because communications with outside support can be so difficult.
But sometimes, the incarcerated pro se litigant has access to a special email service for prisoners called Corrlinks.
Technically, Corrlinks is not email. Rather, it’s a web-based service developed by Advanced Technologies Group, a company that provides software services for prisons.
The prisoner pro se litigant must pay $.05 per minute and $.15 per printed page. Access may be limited or even denied, depending on the prisoner’s status and the rules of the facility. Messages are monitored by prison staff, and “are screened for content that could jeopardize the public or the safety, security, or orderly operation of the facility.”
Messages are limited to 13,000 characters, and attachments are not permitted.
Recipients must also register for the service, and the inmate pro se litigant must add the recipient to his account.
At Cockle Legal Briefs, we often work with prisoner pro se litigants. Not every facility offers its inmates access to Corrlinks, but for an inmate pro se litigant with a Corrlinks account, this service is extremely helpful in our work.