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Prison reform advocates say they’re concerned that in the closing of Stillwater prison, inmates could lose important belongings, including legal documents, because the storage allotted is too limited.
The Minnesota correctional facility is experiencing a phased closure and inmates are already being transferred.
Inmates have to pare down their belongings to fit in two bins before they’re transferred — which could include educational and legal materials.
Kimberly Morgan’s husband is in Stillwater prison and she said he received extra storage for his legal documents. She said he is representing himself in court during post-conviction proceedings.
To preserve those documents, he could pay to mail them out. But Morgan said that would be expensive and time consuming.
“If he has to get rid of legal documentation, then he could possibly miss a chance for a new trial or a hearing,” she said. “He’s been waiting on this for years.”
Michelle Gross, a paralegal and president of the organization Communities United Against Police Brutality, echoed Morgan’s concerns.
“I have literally gotten about a dozen or more phone calls from people that are utterly frantic about what to do about their materials,” said Gross.
Gross also criticized an updated Department of Corrections policy that decreases inmates’ personal digital storage from 50MB to 20MB and states unused documents will be deleted after a year. She says inmates who are in the middle of court proceedings need more access to digital files, not less.
Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell confirmed the megabyte reduction but said he’s not aware that limited digital storage is an issue for inmates participating in legal proceedings. However, he said limited physical storage space is just a reality of prison.
“There is no prison system across this country that just allows people to have unlimited amounts of property,” Schnell said.
Still, he pushed back against accusations from advocates that storage policies could have legal consequences for inmates.
“I do not believe that there is any reason to suggest that the bin limitations should fundamentally impact someone's access to the legal system.”
The Department of Corrections expects the Stillwater prison to fully close by June 2029.
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