Constitutional amendments governing U.S. inmate rights and prison operations

U.S. Supreme Court and the Rights of Inmates

The objective of this study is to identify the constitutional amendments that deal directly with the rights of correctional inmates. For each amendment, this work will describe the rights of inmates and correctional procedures that evolved to protect those rights. Lastly, this work will explain the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in interpreting correctional law, inmates' rights and correctional procedures.

Four Amendments That Address Rights of Prisoners

The primary areas of constitutions rights for inmates incarcerated in U.S. prisons are derived from four constitutional amendments. Those four amendments include the following:

(1) First Amendment -- This amendment governs to what extent authorities restrict the rights of inmates in regards to religion, speech press, and in general, the right to communicate with persons outside the jail. (Thigpen, Hutchinson, Persons and Holland, 2007)

(2) Fourth Amendment -- due process and equal protection. This amendment determines what types of searches are reasonable or unreasonable for inmates, visitors, and staff and what privacy protections do persons retain upon entering the jail. (Thigpen, Hutchinson, Persons and Holland, 2007)

(3) Eighth Amendment -- This amendment determines when the use of force or inadequate medical care or other conditions of confinement amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

(4) Fourteenth Amendment -- (due process and equal protection) This amendment determines what types of procedural steps, including such as notice and hearing must accompany the decision to discipline an inmate to better assure the decision is made fairly. (Thigpen, Hutchinson, Persons and Holland, 2007)

Summary and Conclusion

The First, Fourth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution govern the treatment of prisoners in U.S. jails and prisons. This study has related all relevant provisions of these amendments.