Document Type
Student Comment/Note
Abstract
Access to the courts is a constitutionally recognized right; however, prisoner litigants seeking to pursue this right through 42 U.S.C. § 1983 actions are significantly constrained by the procedural barriers imposed by the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Congress enacted the PLRA in response to a surge in prisoner litigation in the federal courts, and in effect established stringent procedural requirements that prisoner litigants must satisfy before filing a claim. This comment focuses on the requirements that a prisoner litigant must exhaust all administrative remedies and plead a plausible claim. Prisoners’ attempts to fulfill the procedural requirements of the PLRA often result in the dismissal of otherwise meritorious claims. Guidance is therefore essential to help prisoner litigants navigate the Act’s rigorous requirements. Despite mechanisms already in place to mitigate the burden on prisoner plaintiffs, procedural hurdles continue to impede meaningful access to justice. This comment proposes a possible reform to ensure prisoner litigants can pursue their constitutional and statutory rights in court.
DOI
https://www.doi.org/10.70657/SDLR.V71.I2.458
Recommended Citation
Brooke Stivers,
Barriers Behind Bars: The Prison Litigation Reform Act and Prisoner Litigants' Struggle for Access to Justice,
71
S.D. L. Rev.
458
(2026).
Available at:
https://red.library.usd.edu/sdlrev/vol71/iss2/12