Appealing to justice: prisoner grievances, rights, and carceral logic

Introduction: Rights, captivity, and disputing behind bars

"Needles", "haystacks," and "dead watchdogs" : the Prison Litigation Reform Act and the inmate grievance system in California

Naming, blaming, and claiming in an uncommon place of law

Prisoners' counternarratives : "this is a prison and it's not Disneyland"

"Narcissists," "liars," process and paper : the dilemmas and solutions of grievance handlers

Administrative consistency, downstream consequences, and "knuckleheads"

Grievance narratives as frames of meaning, profiles of power

Conclusion

Appendix A. Procedures for interviews with prisoners

Appendix B. Procedures for interviews with CDCR personnel

Appendix C. Coding the sample of grievances.