(d) To send mail to a legal assistant or a student or legal aid assistant, a prisoner must send the mail to the lawyer or legal aid inspector or to the organization or law firm for the attention of the student or assistant. Lawyer`s mail should not be used for general correspondence unrelated to legal representation. (A gentle reminder to your client may prevent all of this or a referral to a pen pal program.) And according to the regulations, a detainee is not allowed to send the lawyer`s correspondence for forwarding to another person. (If the inmate sends something to the lawyer and asks him to pass it on to someone else, the lawyer must inform the client that it will not be passed on and ask the client whether it should be destroyed or returned to him. The lawyer should also decide whether it would be appropriate to return it by confidential mail or only by non-confidential mail, and inform the inmate before either order is chosen.) See California Code of Regulations, Title 15, Section 3141(b), regarding the use of confidential status as a channel for non-privileged communications. Even worse, you could be subject to government legal discipline. (See In re Matter of Brown, 10-O-06727 [State Bar Ct., filed 29. December 2011 – recommended suspension for defense counsel`s actions to remove prison documents, with instructions to hand them over to his wife and sister-in-law].) Sections 3141 to 3145 of Title 15 generally specify who is entitled to confidentiality of communications, how mail must be marked for confidentiality to apply, and how the Department of Correctional Services handles mail with respect to the security needs of the institution. Prisoners` mail is considered confidential if it comes from sources such as elected officers or (2) appointed in Article 3141, subsection (c)(1) to (8) [(2), (3) persons in charge of the custody of the detainee, (4) district authorities with regard to custody procedures, (5) all judges and courts, (6) a lawyer registered with a state bar association, (7) certain employees of the Department of Penitentiary, and (8) legal service organizations – CAP projects fall into the latter category. However, a lawyer`s name must appear in the return address on the envelope, otherwise the mail will be considered non-confidential. Section 3141 also states that «no notice or request for confidentiality shall be required on the envelope.» To avoid mistakes, however, it is safer to mark the envelope prominently with «Confidential» or «Legal Mail». There are restrictions on how a prisoner can receive newspapers, magazines and books.
As a general rule, you must have». come directly from a publisher or bookstore engaged in mail order … ` in accordance with Title 15, Section 3138(f). In other words, the lawyer cannot send a client the latest Harry Potter book or a National Georgraphic magazine to help them pass the time. In addition, detainees may not receive obscene publications or writings or letters containing information indicating where, how or from whom these questions can be obtained; any question of character likely to incite murder, arson, sedition, violent racism or any other form of violence; or any matter relating to the game or lottery. (Pen. Code, § 2601, para. (c) (1)(A) to (C). (a) Staff shall mark each incoming legal mail envelope (court mail or lawyers) to indicate the date and time of receipt, the date and time of delivery of the letter to a detainee and its opening in the presence of the detainee, and the name of the official who delivered the letter. The detainee may be asked to sign as the recipient of incoming legal mail. This paragraph only applies if the sender has marked the envelope in accordance with § 540.18.
The bottom line: don`t transfer anything from your customer to someone else! The CDCR considers this to be an abuse of the legal mail privilege. (b) It is the responsibility of the inmate to advise any lawyer that correspondence will only be treated as special mail if the envelope bears the name of the prosecutor and a statement that the person is an attorney and the front of the envelope is marked «Special Mail – Opened only in the presence of the inmate». Legal mail must be opened according to special postal procedures (see § 540.18). (e) To be identified and treated by staff as special mail, mail sent to an inmate by a junior lawyer or a student or legal aid assistant shall be duly marked on the envelope referred to in paragraph (b) of this section and marked on the front of the envelope as mail from the lawyer or legal aid officer. However, there are some dangers to be aware of. Items sent by a lawyer to the inmate or client must not cause the inmate to violate the CDCR rules. (There are the obvious things – the obscene things, etc. – or the less obvious things – about a lottery or photos.) Counsel must ensure that no metal (including staples and other wire paper fasteners) appears in a detainee`s mail.
When a document is stapled or otherwise secured with metal in the legal mail, the offending metal is removed in front of the occupant. Practice Note 1: Advice from a Senior Panel Lawyer: Attach a receipt detailing the number of volumes of TR and TR the client can sign and date, as well as a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Almost all customers return the confirmation, and she can sometimes answer questions about whether transcripts have been sent and/or received. (c) The grounds for limiting or denying a lawyer`s rights or privileges with respect to correspondence are set out in Subpart B of Part 543. If such action is taken, the supervisor notifies the lawyer and the inmate in writing. Practice Note 2: Even if it is a copy of the client`s transcripts, lawyers must respect reasonable confidentiality restrictions when sending transcript pages that disclose the address or telephone number of a victim or witness in the case. (Pen. Code, section 1054.2.) It is recommended that you remove and copy the relevant pages to keep them in your file, then redact the copied pages if necessary and send the redacted transcript to the client. For example, review the probation officer`s reports, police reports and file notes.
Better yet, mark or note these pages as part of your file review process so you can quickly and easily identify them when you`re ready to send the file to the client after the file is closed. Inmates are not allowed to have money. In addition, inmates may possess personal property, equipment, supplies, items, goods and substances received or obtained from authorized sources only to the extent permitted by institutional procedures. Even excessive possession of stamps can become a tool for economic negotiation. Sending only prepaid envelopes to yourself to a customer will avoid problems. Correspondence between a lawyer and a detainee/client of the State Penitentiary will remain particularly confidential by the Department of Corrections and Reintegration, as guaranteed by article 2601 (b) of the Criminal Code, provided that the conditions are met. Transcripts must be returned to the customer/occupant via a service such as UPS or another similar service provider, who will provide both a tracking number and insurance as part of their service. «Tracking number» means you can get a parcel number and track when it was delivered to the prison. UPS does not deliver to a PO Box address; Use the delivery address listed in our phone book under «Delivery Address». The package or box containing the copies must be properly marked with the lawyer`s name, return address and «confidential legal mail».
The return address must match the address listed in the status bar.