CHAPTER 12

Corrections Law and Inmate Litigation

Learning Objectives

  • To provide you with a brief history of inmate litigation
  • To illustrate for you some of the case law dealing with probation and parole
  • To help you understand the range of issues presented in inmate lawsuits
  • To show you the legal dimensions of the death penalty
  • To help you anticipate some future issues that may arise in correctional law

Chapter Outline

  1. The History of Inmate Litigation
  1. The Hands-Off Period: 1871–1963
  2. Ruffin v. Commonwealth (1871)—the court held that prisoners are slaves of the state and have no more rights than slaves
  3. Civil death—offenders forfeit many of their citizenship rights
  4. Nonperson status—the courts were free to ignore pleas based on alleged deprivations of their rights
  5. The Rights Period: 1964–1978
  6. Public interest law—by the 1960s, in a number of landmark cases activist groups had successfully used litigation to change social conditions
  7. US Supreme Court paid attention to state prisoners’ due process claims
  8. Writ of habeas corpus—petitioning the court for an inmate’s case to be reviewed
  9. Civil rights claim—Section 1983 suit
  10. Tort claims—inmates allege negligence on the part of corrections personnel
  11. The Deference Period: 1979–Present
  12. Bell v. Woflish(1979)—the court decided cell size in favor of the inmates
  1. Inmate Litigation and Postconviction Relief
  1. Access to the Courts
  2. Habeas corpus appeals—inmates allege their confinement is unjust and that the state should show why incarceration should continue
  3. Inmates charged with serious offenses bring most of the appeals
  4. Section 1983
  5. Defendant must be in person
  6. Defendant must be acting under color of state law
  7. Injury to the inmate-plaintiff must involve a violation of a protected right
  8. Defendant must have been personally involved in the alleged injury
  9. Vicarious liability—supervisory liability
  10. Legal Assistance and Legal Access
  11. Jailhouse lawyers—writ writers
  12. Pro se actions—inmates represent themselves
  13. Inmate Advocates and Advocacy Groups
  14. Class action lawsuit—suit brought on behalf of prisoners as a group
  15. National Prison Project—have acted as advocates on behalf of inmates
  1. Laws and Litigation Dealing with Probation and Parole
  1. Mempa v. Rhay (1967)—the court ruled that the right of an accused to be represented by an attorney is not confined to trials alone, that counsel is required at every stage
  2. Morrisey v. Brewer (1972)—expanded legal protections to parolees
  3. Parole hearing should be two-step process
  4. The arrest and preliminary hearing
  5. The revocation hearing
  6. Gagnon v. Scarpelli(1973)—the court defined due process rights of probations
  7. Notice of alleged violations concerning the probation violation
  8. Preliminary hearing to determine if probable cause exists
  9. A revocation hearing
  10. Opportunity to confront accusatory witnesses or evidence
  1. Issues Raised by Corrections Lawsuits
  1. Most common cause of inmate litigation relates to issues such as:
  2. Visitation/mail/telephone policies
  3. Medical treatment
  4. Recreation
  5. Crowding
  6. Double-bunking—also called double-celling; when two inmates are housed in a cell designed to hold one
  7. Bell v. Wolfish (1979)—the court held that double-bunking does not necessarily constitute cruel and unusual punishment
  8. Health and safety issues
  9. Deliberate indifference—standard articulated in Estelle v. Gamble (1976)
  10. Corrections officials knew about but did nothing about the inmate’s physical or medical condition and the failure to act had long-term effects
  11. Programs and Services
  12. Education
  13. Recreation
  14. General library services
  15. Institutional governance
  16. Visitation and correspondence policies
  17. Administrative segregation
  18. Classification policies
  19. Disciplinary and grievance procedures
  1. Recent Trends in Inmate Litigation
  1. Expanding Litigation to Jails
  2. Prison litigation leads the way
  3. Jail litigations are some of the same issues raised in prison litigation
  4. New Areas of Litigation
  5. Gender and Staff
  6. Lee v. Downs (1981)—the court ruled that a female inmate forced to undress in front of a male CO at a doctor’s visit constituted an improper invasion of her privacy
  7. Timm v. Gunter (1990)—the court held that opposite sex surveillance of male inmates is not unreasonable
  8. Sexually Explicit Materials and Access to the Internet
  9. Issues not yet addressed by the Supreme Court
  10. A Smoke-Free Environment
  11. Helling v. McKinney—the court ruled that potential harm could result from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and actions should be taken to eliminate harm
  12. 96 percent of the US prisons have established smoke-free living areas
  13. 60 percent of US prisons have banned tobacco use altogether
  14. Excessive Force
  15. Hudson v. McMillian (1992)—the court articulated a test for all excessive use of force cases in a prison setting
  16. The Impact of Inmate Litigation
  17. Litigation has been a major influence in changing correction practices since 1970
  18. Between 1980 and 2010, over 930,000 petitions were filed by state prisoner
  19. According to Harris and Spiller (1977), broad-based prison lawsuits have outcomes:
  20. There have been qualitative improvements in the particular prisons sued and the state corrections departments
  21. The suits have not undermined state authority
  22. The suits have not created “country club” prisons
  23. Federal judges have not overtaken the day-to-day administration of the prisons
  24. Most assessments of inmate litigation are optimistic or reserved
  1. Capital Punishment and Prisoner Litigation
  1. Year 2010—more than 3,100 prisoner on death row
  2. Furman v. Georgia (1972)—the court struck down unconstitutional death penalties in GA and other states
  3. Gregg v. Georgia (1976)—the court upheld the death penalty and GA and other states adopted a system of adjudication for death penalty cases
  4. First phase—jury decided the question of guilt
  5. If found guilty, the sentencing phase begins to consider several factors
  6. Mitigating circumstances—factors that diminish the seriousness of the crime
  7. Aggravating circumstances—factors that enhance the seriousness of the crime
  8. Sentencing jury must return unanimous verdict for the death penalty
  9. 37 out of 38 states allowing the death penalty state that death sentences are automatically reviewed
  10. Each year about the same number of people sentenced to death is the same amount as those that leave death row
  11. Every term death-row inmates appeal their convictions to the US Supreme Court
  12. Public opinion polls show strong, but declining, support for the death penalty
  1. The Future of Litigation
  1. The future seems to hold more inmate litigation

Reference

Harris, M. Kay, and Dudley P. Spiller, Jr. 1977. After decision: Implementations of judicial decrees in correctional settings. Washington, DC: National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.

Key Terms

aggravating circumstances—factors that enhance (aggravate) the seriousness of the crime

civil death—offenders forfeit many of their citizenship rights

civil rights claim—a Section 1983 suit; an option for an inmate to file a federal lawsuit

class action lawsuit—a suit brought on behalf of prisoners as a group

deliberate indifference—blame asserted by the court that corrections officials knew about but did nothing about the inmate’s physical or medical condition, and that the failure to act had long-term effects on the inmate’s condition

jailhouse lawyers—writ writers

mitigating circumstances—factors that diminish (mitigate) the seriousness of the crime

nonperson status—the courts were largely free to ignore pleas based on alleged deprivations of their rights; for inmates: constitutional rights

pro se actions—suits in which inmates represent themselves

public interest law—litigation used to change social conditions

Section 1983 suit—civil rights claim; an option for an inmate to file a federal lawsuit

vicarious liability—supervisory liability

writ of habeas corpus—an option for an inmate to file a federal lawsuit

writ writers—jailhouse lawyers

Chapter Summary

The areas of prisoners’ rights and inmate litigation are complex. However, from this chapter you should especially note the following:

  • For a long period in our nation’s early history, the courts took a “hands-off” approach to prisoners and prisoners’ rights.
  • During the 1960s, prison inmates, along with other groups in society, frequently turned to the courts to seek redress for their grievances.
  • Although the courts still hear appeals from prison inmates, courts have been largely deferential to prison authorities and prison policies for the past 30 years.
  • Inmates have a variety of legal mechanisms for their appeals, and two of the most common have been writs of habeas corpus and civil rights actions (Section 1983 suits).
  • Prison inmates have challenged a wide range of conditions of confinement—such as crowding and medical care—and litigation has extended to jails and probation and parole clients.
  • One of the most visible areas of inmate litigation has been in challenges to the death penalty.
  • Some states have seen significant changes in their corrections systems as a result of inmate lawsuits and oversight by the federal courts.

Discussion Topics

  1. Trace the history of inmate litigation. Highlight the major court cases and their impact on the treatment of inmates.
  2. What are the legal dimensions of the death penalty? How is it applied in the United States and by whom? Which cases have determined the methods utilized in administrating the death penalty?
  3. What are the issues typically brought about by inmate litigation? Has inmate litigation been successful for inmates? In what ways?

Web Activities

1. Goto the United States Supreme Court website’s list of PDF documents regarding the death penalty

Choose a document and write a brief essay regarding the decision of the court.

2. Go to the YouTube video: The Farrell Litigation

Use this video to generate a class discussion, an online discussion board or for a paper.

3. Read the document: The High Cost of Prisoner Lawsuits to California Taxpayers

Write an essay considering the pros and cons of the costs of inmate litigation.