Floppy Disk Appeals: New Jersey Prisoners’ Tech Constraints and Due Process Concerns
In a piece for the Prison Journalism Project, Jorge Luis Alvarado details the challenges of navigating the legal system while incarcerated at New Jersey State Prison, particularly the reliance on obsolete technology. Prisoners are forced to use floppy disks for legal correspondence, as flash drives are not permitted. This outdated system causes significant delays in receiving and accessing crucial legal documents, since attorneys send information via flash drive. This creates problems for inmates who must then transfer the information to floppy disks, as the antiquated technology limits storage capacity and is prone to corruption.
John Q. Hosedrinker