Four Prisons Install Legal Research Computers For Inmates
Four Hawaii prisons have substituted legal research computers for hardbound legal textbooks in their libraries, increasing inmates’ access to legal documents and reducing staff time spent on research, as well as freeing up space.
Kulani Correctional Facility warden Peter MacDonald says that his staff is still working the kinks out of the system, but that inmates at the minimum-security facility are finding it easier to educate themselves about their legal situations.
Facilities say that the LexisNexis database lets prisons provide the required access to legal information without using law books, which must be updated and are easy to damage.
The touch-screen computer kiosks, which are provided by LexisNexis, are resistant to damage, and provide access to over 4.6 billion documents from over 30,000 sources. The price of about $20,000 per year per unit is roughly the same as hard copy texts, but saves money by reducing maintenance time.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Honolulu Advertiser (HI) (03/16/04) P. 6B; Boylan, Peter.
