Inmate rights: definitions, case research, and systemic impacts

¶ … prisoners do have some rights, it is worth noting that their rights are extremely circumscribed, particularly when contrasted with that of the average citizen who is not incarcerated. The most salient right that prisoners have is afforded by the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which strictly forbids cruel and unusual punishment (Dolovich, 2009, p. 881). As such, prisoners are entitled to a minimum standard of living. However, in several prisons it is extremely difficult to enforce this particular amendment, largely due to the fact that much of what takes place in a prison setting is well beyond the reach of the public's discernment.

Another highly important right that prisoners have is their right to due process, which is directly related to their ability to appeal decisions and to access less restrictive forms of punishment, such as parole. Due process means that prisoners are entitled to the same rights -- as pertaining to those two aforementioned things, parole and appeals, as other individuals. It is a valuable instance in which prisoners have the same rights as other citizens .

Other circumscribed rights that prisoners have pertain to practice religion and to practice free speech. Again, it is difficult to enforce these rights since prisoners are sequestered from public view and no one will know if these rights are violated. Additionally, there are a couple of pieces of legislation that have been passed to eliminate discrimination against prisoners on the grounds of nationality or race, religious creed, or sex. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment -- which was initially created to apply to ordinary citizens, among them recently liberated slaves -- and the Model Sentencing Corrections act help to ensure that prisoners are not mistreated due to these largely immutable facets of their character.

One particular case that deals with the rights of the prisoners in the U.S. was decided in 2011 was Brown vs. Plata, No. 09-1233 (Liptak, 2011). This case had significant repercussions for the prison system today because it ruled that overcrowding in prisons is unconstitutional. Specifically, the Supreme Court decided by a vote of 5-4 to that egregious overpopulation in a prison setting is a violation of the eighth amendment, which states that prisoners are to be free from cruel and unusual punishment (Liptak, 2011). Additionally, the ruling on this particular case mandated that California, which is suffering from financial woes as well as massive overcrowding of its prison system, must reduce the number of prisoners so that it will be at 110, 000, which is still 137.5% of its capacity.

The reason that this particular case reached the Supreme Court is due to the serious ramifications of the substantial overpopulation of California's state prisons. Suicide rates in California's penal system are nearly 100% higher than those in the rest of the country (Liptak, 2011). Additionally, the surplus of inmates makes it increasingly difficult for them to get fair access to medical treatment and other basic necessities of human life -- that still apply when an individual is institutionalized.