State of Oregon, Ex Rel. Earl Sherwood v. Clarence T. Gladden, Warden of the Oregon State Penitentiary

Petitioner has tendered to the Clerk of this Court for filing what he calls a “Petition for Writ of Mandamus in Forma Pauperis.” Although this should have been an application for leave to file such a petition we shall consider the petition itself as such an application.

The petition seeks to have this Court order the respondent Warden of the Oregon State Penitentiary to permit petitioner, a prisoner in respondent’s custody, to have access to law books and to borrow from the Oregon State Library and elsewhere law books and other legal materials to enable petitioner to inform himself as to the law relating to his rights so that petitioner may intelligently prepare and make a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He alleges that respondent has made and enforced a rule prohibiting him from procuring legal materials and other information through an exchange with other prisoners in the institution; that the Warden has prevented his mailing letters and other communications to various persons on the ground that the envelopes containing the same were sealed contrary to the rules of the penitentiary; that such rule prohibiting sealed letters to be mailed was applied to prevent the mailing…