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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,...
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)
II. Relevant Provisions of Jail and Prison Operations
Included in the jail and prison operations that are addressed by these amendments to…
Bibliography
Thigpen, ML,. Hutchinson, VA, Persons, V. And Holland, F. (2007) Jails and the Cosntittuion: An Overview. U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved from: http://static.nicic.gov/Library/022570.pdf
Chung, V. (2000) Prison Overcrowding: Standards in Determining Eighth Amendment Violations. Fordham Law Review. Vol. 68, Iss.6. Art. 9. Retrieved from: http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3653&context=flr
HOLT V. HOBBS: PETITIONER'S SIDE OF THE CASE The objective of this study is to answer the legal question of whether the Arkansas Department of Corrections grooming policy violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act by preventing Holt from growing a one-half inch beard in accordance with his religious beliefs. Facts of the Case The petitioner in this case, Gregory Holt is who also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad, an inmate
Supreme Court's recent decision to ban the execution of mentally challenged individuals raises important ethical issues. Judges must be able to determine if a person is indeed mentally challenged. While the legal system and psychology have made important insights into this issue, there is still some inconsistency in the definition and application of mental retardation in the judicial system. Accordingly, an analysis of the ethical principles underlying the issue
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In fact, while Great Britain is liberal in many areas, prison rights does not seem to be one of them. Prisoners commonly appeal conditions to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which has a much more liberal stance on human and inmate rights than those of Great Britain. For example, "On its 2005 visit to UK prisons, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), was highly
inmate health care issues are significantly different from those of average Americans. Furthermore, in many cases it is accurate to say that these issues have been exacerbated by the process and lifestyle propagated by incarceration. The primary issue facing prisoners is a marked lack of medical and health care treatment, which may become manifest in myriad forms including through a lack of medication, proper facilities, competent professionals and a