Use of the prison law library for legal research is discussed. Guidelines examine procedures for drafting legal documents, including motions, petitions, briefs, and affidavits. Post-conviction procedures are described, including the procedural requirements that a State prisoner must exhaust before filing a Federal habeas corpus action and procedures that should be followed after filing in the Federal court. Conditions requiring a right to counsel are set forth, as are ways in which prosecutors or courts may interfere with this right. Waiver of the right and the defendant's right to proceed pro se also are considered. The right to effective assistance of counsel and applicable standards are explained. Additional rights considered relate to search and seizure, detention, and confessions. Preliminary court procedures are examined, and State and defendants' rights to discovery and defendant and witness competency determinations are addressed. Other issues examined relate to aid for indigents; requests for change of venue, severance, or continuance; court procedures in guilty pleas; problems related to trial procedures; and defenses that can be raised at criminal trials. Also covered are police investigation, the sentencing and appellate processes and procedures, detainers and executions, and problems facing aliens. Footnotes, table of cases, forms, and index.