Prisoners' Rights

Winston Churchill said that the “mood and temper of the public with regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilization of any country.” This course considers the law governing prisoners’ rights and also sets that law in context so that students can consider the role of prisons in the contemporary justice system. Prisoners’ Rights involves a body of largely constitutional law developed over the past thirty five years dealing with the conditions of confinement for the more than two million inmates in prison and jails in the United States today. Since prisons are the quintessential “closed institutions,” every aspect of the lives of inmates is controlled by the state. Prisons serve as a unique 53laboratory for the development of constitutional doctrine. Thus, prisoners’ rights law deals with topics as diverse as the cruel and unusual punishment clause, freedom of speech and religion, access to the courts, race and gender discrimination, due process, and privacy, as well as remedial problems involved in implementing prisoners’ rights through litigation and other dispute resolution techniques. It also deals with legislation among other things addressing prisoners’ access to the courts and providing protection for prisoners from sexual assault and protection of the right of inmates to practice their religions. With over two million Americans in prisons and jails the role of this vitally important institution has even greater importance to the legal community and society generally than ever before. These and many more topics will be the subject of class readings. Guest speakers and a visit to a prison are also a part of this course.