Chapter 8
Prisoners’ Rights
Era of Hands Off Litigation
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Ruffin v. Commonwealth (1871): slave
of the state argument
Coffin v. Reichard (1944): retention of
rights argument (but limited effect)
Hands off doctrine (4 reasons)
Activist era
Due deference era
Mechanics of Litigation (1 of 2)
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Damages (monies – punitive, actual)
Injunctions
Section 1983
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Monroe v. Pape (1961)
Person, under color of law, violates a
constitutional right can be sued
States and state agencies are immune
Cities are not immune
Negligence is not enough, must be deliberate
indifference or intent
Monetary damages, injunctive relief, declaratory
Mechanics of Litigation (2 of 2)
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Habeas Corpus
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Challenges the legality of confinement and
conditions
“The Great Writ” – “produce the body”
Restricted by Stone v. Powell: Court held that
those issues already fully considered by a state
court could not be evaluated by a federal court
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act also
limited petitions
Criminal Remedies
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Difficult to employ
Americans With Disability Act
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Supreme Court said it did apply to
prisoners
Seek access and accommodation for
disabilities
Prison Litigation Reform Act
(1996) (1 of 2)
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Features include
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Specific requirements for findings
Diminished authority of judges to order release of
overcrowded prisons
Short time limits on remedial orders
Requires exhausting administrative remedies
Granting state officials role in appointing special
masters
Requires that special master be paid for by court
Requires that prisoners make partial payment of
court costs
Prison Litigation Reform Act
(1996) (2 of 2)
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Diminishes scope of available injunctive
relief and restricts consent decrees
Changed awarding of attorney fees
Drastically reduced flow of inmate
petitions
The Eighth Amendment: Corporal
Punishment and the Use of Force
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Corporal punishment: Jackson v. Bishop
(1968)
Totality of circumstances cases
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Use of force cases
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Violence as part of list of conditions
Deliberate infliction of gratuitous force is
prohibited
Other Application of the 8th Amendment
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Therapy: Knecht v. Gillman (1973)
Involuntary administration of drugs: Washington v.
Harper (1990)
Access to the Legal System
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Due process: protects against
governmental error in the deprivation of
life, liberty, or property
Jailhouse Lawyers and Law Libraries
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Johnson v. Avery
Bounds v. Smith
Legal Correspondence
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Wolff v. McDonnell
First Amendment Rights
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(1 of 5)
Press and Media Access
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Pell v. Procunier and Saxbe v.
Washington Post
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Press have no greater right than anyone
Houchins v. KQED
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Ability to restrict newspaper reporters
extended to electronic media
First Amendment Rights
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(2 of 5)
Correspondence and Censorship
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Procunier v. Martinez
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Pell v. Procunier
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Looked at right of free person, must further
governmental interest and be least restrictive
Relaxed standard, rational relationship test
Turner v. Safley
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Allowed complete restriction of inmate-toinmate, rational relationship test
First Amendment Rights
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(3 of 5)
Correspondence and Censorship (cont.)
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Bell v. Wolfish
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Thornburgh v. Abbot
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Restricted publications
Used Turner v. Safley test to determine if
prohibition was allowable
Simon and Schuster v. Members of New
York State Crime Victims Board
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Son of Sam laws
First Amendment Rights
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(4 of 5)
Visitation
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Some cases have categorized visitation as
a privilege rather than right
Prison officials can regulate visitation
No right to conjugal visits
First Amendment Rights
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Religious Practices
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(5 of 5)
O’Lone v. Shabazz – rational relationship
standard
RFRA, RLUIPA – government can’t impose
“substantial burden” on one’s exercise of
religion
Personal Appearance
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Courts typically do not interfere with prison
regulations unless related to religion
The Right to Privacy
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The Right to Privacy
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Penumbral right
Turner v. Safley – right to choose marriage
protected
No or few privacy rights; strip or body cavity
search might be 8th amendment violation if
harassment and excessive
No right of privacy recognized to prevent cross
sex supervision
Dothard v. Rawlinson – held that sex was a
bfoq because of conditions of the prison
Medical Treatment in
Correctional Institutions
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8th amendment is the source
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Lack of medical care can create
unnecessary pain
Test is deliberate indifference
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Estelle v. Gamble
Equal Protection
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Glover v. Johnson
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Women deserve equal vocational
opportunities
Lee v. Washington
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Court held there had to be immediate
danger to justify racial segregation in
prison
Procedural Due Process
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Wolff v. McDonnell
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Meachum v. Fano
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Inmates deserved some due process before
segregation and deprivation of good time
No right to any due process before transfer
Sandin v. Conner
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Segregation not atypical, therefore no right to
due process