In the case of Younger v. Gilmore, 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling that California must provide free legal textbooks to students attending parochial schools in the state. The plaintiffs were parents and taxpayers who argued that this violated their First Amendment rights by using public funds for religious education. However, the Supreme Court ruled against them on grounds of abstention doctrine - a principle which discourages federal courts from interfering with ongoing state proceedings unless there are extraordinary circumstances present such as bad faith harassment or flagrantly unconstitutional acts by state officials.

In the dissenting opinion for Younger v. Gilmore, Justice William O. Douglas argued that the majority's decision to uphold a California law requiring inmates to purchase their own legal materials was unconstitutional. He believed this ruling violated an individual’s right to access courts and legal resources, which is protected under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. Douglas pointed out that many prisoners do not have sufficient funds to buy these materials themselves, effectively denying them equal protection under the law and hindering their ability to mount effective defenses or appeals in court cases. He also noted that other states provided such resources free of charge, further highlighting what he saw as California’s discriminatory practice against its incarcerated population.