2. Chapter 8
Prisoners’ Rights

3. Era of Hands Off Litigation
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

4. Mechanics of Litigation (1 of 2)
Damages (monies – punitive, actual)
Injunctions
Section 1983
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

5. Mechanics of Litigation (2 of 2)
Habeas Corpus
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
Difficult to employ

6. Americans With Disability Act
Supreme Court said it did apply to prisoners
Seek access and accommodation for disabilities

7. Prison Litigation Reform Act (1996) (1 of 2)
Features include
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

8. Prison Litigation Reform Act (1996) (2 of 2)
Diminishes scope of available injunctive relief and restricts consent decrees
Changed awarding of attorney fees
Drastically reduced flow of inmate petitions

9. The Eighth Amendment: Corporal Punishment and the Use of Force
Corporal punishment: Jackson v. Bishop (1968)
Totality of circumstances cases
Violence as part of list of conditions
Use of force cases
Deliberate infliction of gratuitous force is prohibited
Other Application of the 8th Amendment
Therapy: Knecht v. Gillman (1973)
Involuntary administration of drugs: Washington v. Harper (1990)

10. Access to the Legal System
Due process: protects against governmental error in the deprivation of life, liberty, or property
Jailhouse Lawyers and Law Libraries
Johnson v. Avery
Bounds v. Smith
Legal Correspondence
Wolff v. McDonnell

11. First Amendment Rights (1 of 5)
Press and Media Access
Pell v. Procunier and Saxbe v. Washington Post
Press have no greater right than anyone
Houchins v. KQED
Ability to restrict newspaper reporters extended to electronic media

12. First Amendment Rights (2 of 5)
Correspondence and Censorship
Procunier v. Martinez
Looked at right of free person, must further governmental interest and be least restrictive
Pell v. Procunier
Relaxed standard, rational relationship test
Turner v. Safley
Allowed complete restriction of inmate-to-inmate, rational relationship test

13. First Amendment Rights (3 of 5)
Correspondence and Censorship (cont.)
Bell v. Wolfish
Restricted publications
Thornburgh v. Abbot
Used Turner v. Safley test to determine if prohibition was allowable
Simon and Schuster v. Members of New York State Crime Victims Board
Son of Sam laws

14. First Amendment Rights (4 of 5)
Visitation
Some cases have categorized visitation as a privilege rather than right
Prison officials can regulate visitation
No right to conjugal visits

15. First Amendment Rights (5 of 5)
Religious Practices
O’Lone v. Shabazz – rational relationship standard
RFRA, RLUIPA – government can’t impose “substantial burden” on one’s exercise of religion
 Personal Appearance
Courts typically do not interfere with prison regulations unless related to religion

16. The Right to Privacy The Right to Privacy 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

17. Medical Treatment in Correctional Institutions
8th amendment is the source
Lack of medical care can create unnecessary pain
Test is deliberate indifference
Estelle v. Gamble

18. Equal Protection Glover v. Johnson Lee v. Washington
Women deserve equal vocational opportunities
Lee v. Washington
Court held there had to be immediate danger to justify racial segregation in prison

19. Procedural Due Process
Wolff v. McDonnell
Inmates deserved some due process before segregation and deprivation of good time
Meachum v. Fano
No right to any due process before transfer
Sandin v. Conner
Segregation not atypical, therefore no right to due process