In the 1960’s and 1970’s socially connected inmates were willing to fight for their rights. They

The 8th amendment says that excessive bail shall not be required, or excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment.

Some basic prisoner’s rights are: freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, the right to communicate, and the right to medical treatment. Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment falls under the eight amendment. This right is tricky because there are different definitions of what falls under the category of “cruel and unusual”. For an act to be considered cruel and unusual it is usually thought to be inhuman with no doubt about it.

The famous Founding Fathers of the United States created critical documents to protect the citizens of the country they were establishing. These documents included the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. The latter, the Bill of Rights, ensures certain rights to all citizens, and the Eighth Amendment in particular, protects citizens against cruel or unusual punishments for breaking the law. When analyzing the protection under the Eighth Amendment one must also look at all the aspects of the law including: the history of the law, the modern uses and abuses of the law, and the law’s current effectiveness.

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution limits the punishments that may be imposed by the government on American citizens. These limits are compulsory among the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment. The English Bill of Rights of 1689 expressed concern with arbitrary and disproportionate sanctions, giving way to the Founders inclusion of the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. To explore the Eighth Amendment it is important to consider constitutionally accepted punishments, the ever-evolving practice of capital punishment, and eighth amendment protection inside prison walls.

The most valued documents in modern American society tend also to be the most heavily debated. For instance, interpretations of the United States Constitution tend to be rooted in one of two firmly entrenched beliefs;while the first camp believes it to be set in stone, the second his convinced that the United States Constitution is by nature a perpetually evolving document, meant to reflect the desires and needs of the people. Even amongst those in the same camp, disagreements abound; those believing that the Constitution is set in stone are divided on issues such as the eighth amendment’s prohibition of ‘cruel and unusual punishment’. It is difficult to reach a consensus on what, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. For example, the concept of waterboarding is championed by many as a ‘humane’ form of torture which causes no physical harm. However, it was deemed a cruel and unusual punishment due to the sensations of drowning and symptoms of mental illness which it produced in its victims. It can therefore be inferred that physical injury is not the only factor to be considered in whether or not a practice is to be deemed inhumane; factors such as mental wellbeing and fitness of punishment must also be considered. This leads one to ponder how the concept of solitary confinement could possibly even be considered when it so clearly violates the protections which the eighth amendment provides.

In the 2011 case of Brown v. Plata Judge Kennedy stated that the prisons in California were beyond overcrowded which lead to lack of proper medical and mental health care, which violated the cruel and unusual clause of the Eight Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Brown v. Plata, 2011, 1). It stated that California prisons were built to house approximately 80,000 inmates but by the times it went to the Supreme Court it had nearly doubled the original number (Newman and Scott, 2012, 548). It also stated that a prison which deprives prisoners of adequate medical care is an inadequate living facility for any human (Brown v. Plata, 2011, 13). Failure to comply with adequate medical services would cause inmates physical torment which in return would violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause (Newman and Scott, 2012, 549). As a result of overcrowding and lack of proper mental and medical health care the State of California was ordered to reduce their prison population by one-third by May 2013 (Owen and Mobley, 2012, 47).

American prison systems encompass all three spheres of criminal justice: law enforcement, judiciary, corrections. Within this system, a massive problem exists. America is known as the “mass incarceration nation” (Hamilton, 2014, p. 1271). Comparatively, the United States encompasses the majority of global prisoners, yet the population is nowhere near that proportion. Just how “free and equal” is this system? Since Gideon v. Wainwright, the racial divide in the criminal justice system has grown, which is contradictory to its intentions. The American criminal justice system has failed to provide the justice and protections it promises. There are many injustices caused by the mass incarceration of American citizens, especially those of minority descent. More harm is done by incarceration to the individual, their community, and the nation, than if other forms of justice were used. The criminal justice system is divided, with racial and income disparities defining the nation in way never intended.

Treatments are provided for the inmate’s best interest and what may improve their mental and physical health, even though mentally ill inmates have their rights in denying treatment they

For many years now, the criminal justice system has become stricter, causing more and more people to be arrested and sentenced to prison. As prisons become more occupied, the living conditions, health, and treatment of prisoners starts to deteriorate, which has become a trend over the last few decades. However, President Obama has noticed this prison environment and has taken a stand in saying that something needs to be done about it. Though many people would argue that prison reform is unnecessary because prisoners deserve to be treated poorly, there is sufficient evidence that shows that the current conditions end up doing more harm mentally and physically to the

Within this paper, you will find a comprehensive review of the United States prison system, and why it needs to analyzed to better support and reform the people of this country. I plan to persuade the other side (politicians and society) into seeing that the way the prison system is now, is not ethical nor economical and it must change. We have one of the world’s largest prison population, but also a very high rate of recidivism. Recidivism is when the prisoners continuously return to prison without being reformed. They return for the same things that they were doing before. So, this leads us to ask what exactly are we doing wrong? When this happens, we as a nation must continuously pay to house and feed these inmates. The purpose of a prison needs to be examined so we can decide if we really are reforming our inmates, or just continuing a vicious cycle. What is the true purpose of prison besides just holding them in a cell? There must be more we can do for these hopeless members of society.

Equalizing the constitutional rights of prisoners and the functions of the jail or prison can create great strain on not only the correctional facilities’ staff but on the inmates as well. The treatment of prisoners is typically left completely to the prudence of prison administrators and other correctional officials. With that being said, this paper will discuss the differences between harmonizing those constitutional rights of prisoners and the functions of the facility. It will also explain the rights that prisoners are required to have, and how these rights are balanced within other aspects of the correctional institution.

Under the eighth amendment, cruel and unusual punishment is forbidden, however, that law stopped absolutely nothing. Inside the walls of the Eastern State Penitentiary, every action had a consequence. In the winter, if inmates were to misbehave they would get chained to the wall and have buckets of cold water thrown on them. In the summer they would get chained to a chair for days. It is bad enough most of the people in Eastern State were in solitary confinement, let alone getting strapped to a chair for days. If they continued to misbehave, an iron gag was placed over the mouth of the prisoner (Griest). The prisoners at Eastern State Penitentiary were clearly subject to cruel and unusual punishment. By the time Eastern State closed its doors in 1971, it was widely seen as a failure.

Although inmates may not have full Constitutional rights while incarcerated, they are entitled to basic human rights, freedom and dignity. U.S. penal systems have been reformed at the beginning of the 1960’s. The reason for this reformation is to prevent inhumane treatment, provide inmates with religious freedom, and due process (Smith, 2010). The U.S. Supreme Court

This clause was created to stop or prevent any acts of punishment that would cause unnecessary suffering, or pain of any performed on offenders. For example, in Hudson v McMillian (1992) it was considered whether or not the beating by guards of an inmate that was handcuffed at Louisiana's Angola prison violated the Eighth Amendment rights. After voting, the court decided there indeed was a violation of the mentioned clause by a majority rule, although he suffered no significant or long term no permanent injuries or. After this case, the Court took a good look at the argument of only beatings that caused "severe injuries" were worthy of Eighth Amendment violations. This Amendment was established for all outcomes of this kind of behavior. Many professions such as lawyers and judges, and correction officers are upheld to a higher standard. Each officer and correction officer has a task of doing what is right, even at times when they believe no one is looking on duty. For example, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has the Correctional Officer Ethical Standards of Conduct policy. (FDLE) This policy lays down the law for correctional officers and outline professional conduct and ethical standards of conduct on and off duty. This is to include recognizing unprofessional relationships amongst peers, inmates and superiors. Some rules are:

State taxes will increase because civil litigation regarding institutional burden is increasing. Since 1979 prisoner victims have been winning some substantial money damages ($380,000 in one case) from institutions being sued for breach of prisoners' federal civil rights under the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These suits are based upon a "failure to protect" together with "deliberate indifference" on the part of institution officials. This principle was first upheld for sexual assaults by the U.S. Supreme Court in Smith v. Wade (1983) and was further elaborated in Farmer.