Byron White

Name: Johnson v. Avery — Dissent
Author: Byron White

Summary

“Johnson v. Avery — Dissent”, is a work by Byron White. It explores elements such as jailhouse, jailhouse lawyer and prisoner client.

Quotes from Johnson v. Avery — Dissent (Byron White)

Byron White, Johnson v. Avery — Dissent

“ To the extent that it is easy to state a claim, any prisoner can do it, and need not submit to the mercies of a jailhouse lawyer. To the extent that it is difficult- and it is necessary to understand what one's rights are before it is possible to set out in a petition the facts which support them there may be no fellow prisoner adequate to the task. There are some well informed and articulate prisoners and some (not necessarily the same) who give advice and aid out of altruism. When the two qualities are combined in one man, as they sometimes are, he can be a perfectly adequate source of help. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Byron White, Johnson v. Avery — Dissent

“ It is true, as the majority says, that habeas corpus is the Great Writ, and that access through it to the courts cannot be denied simply because a man is indigent or illiterate. It is also true that the illiterate or poorly educated and inexperienced indigent cannot adequately help himself and that unless he secures aid from some other source he is effectively denied the opportunity to present to the courts what may be valid claims for post-conviction relief. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Byron White, Johnson v. Avery — Dissent

“ Many assert that the aim of the jailhouse lawyer is not the service of truth and justice, but rather self-aggrandizement, profit, and power. According to prison officials, whose expertise in such matters should be given some consideration, the jailhouse lawyer often succeeds in establishing his own power structure, quite apart from the formal system of warden, guards, and trusties which the prison seeks to maintain. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Byron White, Johnson v. Avery — Dissent

“ But the jails are not characteristically populated with the intelligent or the benign, and capable altruists must be rare indeed. On the other hand, some jailhouse clients are illiterate; and whether illiterate or not, there are others who are unable to prepare their own petitions. They need help, but I doubt that the problem of the indigent convict will be solved by subjecting him to the false hopes, dominance, and inept representation of the average unsupervised jailhouse lawyer. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Byron White, Johnson v. Avery — Dissent

“ If the problem of the indigent and ignorant convict in seeking post-conviction relief is substantial, which I think it is, the better course is not in effect to sanction and encourage spontaneous jailhouse lawyer systems but to decide the matter directly in the case of a man who himself needs help and in that case to rule that the State must provide access to the courts by ensuring that those who cannot help themselves have reasonably adequate assistance in preparing their post-conviction papers. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Byron White, Johnson v. Avery — Dissent

“ The disciplinary problems are severe, the burden on the courts serious, and the disadvantages to prisoner clients of the jailhouse lawyer are unacceptable.
Although some jailhouse lawyers are no doubt very capable, it is not necessarily the best amateur legal minds which are devoted to jailhouse lawyering. Rather, the most aggressive and domineering personalities may predominate. And it may not be those with the best claims to relief who are served as clients, but those who are weaker and more gullible. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Byron White, Johnson v. Avery — Dissent

“ It may be that those who could help effectively refuse to do so because the indigent cannot pay, that there is actually no fellow inmate who is competent to help, or that the realities of prison life leave the indigent to the mercies of those who should not be advising others at all. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Byron White, Johnson v. Avery — Dissent

“ Those whom the jailhouse lawyer serves may come morally under his sway as the one hope of their release, and repay him not only with obedience but with what minor gifts and other favors are available to them. When a client refuses to pay, violence may result, in which the jailhouse lawyer may be aided by his other clients. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Byron White, Johnson v. Avery — Dissent

“ Codes of ethics, champerty, and maintenance, frequently have little meaning to the jailhouse lawyer, who solicits business as vigorously as he can. In the petition itself, outright lies may serve the jailhouse lawyer's purpose since by procuring for a prisoner client a short trip out of jail for a hearing on his contentions the petition writer's credibility with the other convicts is improved. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Byron White, Johnson v. Avery — Dissent

“ The majority admits that it 'is indisputable' that jailhouse lawyers like petitioner 'are sometimes a menace to prison discipline and that their petitions are often so unskillful as to be a burden on the courts which receive them.' That is putting it mildly. ”

Byron White

Summary

Quotes from Johnson v. Avery — Dissent (Byron White)

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