Essay about The Rights of a Prisoner

Ever since the first prison opened in the United States in 1790, incarceration has been the center of the nations criminal justice system. Over this 200 year period many creative alternatives to incarceration have been tried, and many at a much lower cost than imprisonment. It wasn’t until the late 1980’s when our criminal justice systems across the country began experiencing a problem with overcrowding of facilities. This problem forced lawmakers to develop new options for sentencing criminal offenders.

The rights of a prisoner to read, write, speak, practice their religion, and communicate with the outside world are often cut far outside what is necessary for established security. This also leads to prisoners to stop communicating with the outside world and family.

Although lawful imprisonment deprives prisoners of many rights, certain Constitutional rights are retained. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution shields some of the most ordinary rights that you can hold as Americans. As a student of Texas State University I do not “shed my constitutional rights once I Step foot on campus. Do prison walls form a barrier separating prison inmates from the protections of the Constitution? Granted, a characteristic of lawful imprisonment includes temporary separation of certain rights; however, regulations on the rights of inmates must be overseen rationally. Especially, when the essential rights provided by the First

Ultimately, the involvement of federal courts in prisoners’ rights may have had the most significant role in the shaping of penal practices.

In a constitutional democracy, the balance stands between two important aspects of human life; one of those aspects, perhaps in the view of many the most important one is individual liberty and privacy (Samaha, 6). According to Joel Samaha, author of the book Criminal Justice Seventh Edition, individual liberty and privacy refers to the idea of doing as you wish, coming and going at any time you see suitable, and not having to give “reports” of your whereabouts to anyone; all this of course, taking into account that you must abide by the laws governing a particular society (Samaha, 6). Though it can be argued otherwise, we as Americans for the most part experience individual liberty and privacy to a great extent. As American citizens, we have the choice to choose as we wish; except, however, those whose actions drove them to imprisonment. It is no surprise, that prison inmates have very little to choose from as they meet the sentences imposed on them due to the social violation they decided to engage in; because of books, documentaries, and other sources of information, many believe that prison inmates are nothing more than a burden who utilize tax money for their survival, as they in return, rehabilitate themselves and become law-abiding citizens of society. Despite having some choices such as recreation, the ability to work, and the access to religious programs, according to a prisoner who spent the majority of his life on death row, prison can drive a person to insanity.

“Indeed, the court has been clear that the sheer differences between free society and prison make for a more narrow application of the fourth amendment”, (DeLisi, Matt and Conis, Peter. 2013). It is very important to clear the assumptions about inmates having the same rights as everyone else. Some argue that even if they are incarcerated, they are still U.S citizens and according to the fourteenth amendment; everyone is equal under the law. The quote above expresses on how the Supreme Court of the U.S. has noted the significance in making it clear that those incarcerated have limited rights. Regarding the fourth Amendment, inmates have to be searched for the security of others in the prison.

Over the past years, it have been obvious, that jailhouse lawyers have increased the number of lawsuits filed by prisoners. In the year of 1980, prisoners filed 12,395 petitions of civil rights claims and in the year of 2000, prisoners filed 24,463 petitions of civil rights claims, in the Federal Courts, by State prisoners.(Mays & Winfree Jr, 2005, pp.304). Jailhouse lawyers have helped inmates file these petitions against the Federal Courts, in the favor of other inmates challenging their conditions of confinement. The conditions of their confinement seems to be, prisoners way for wanting to receive a sentence reduction, sometimes, a release from prison. On the other hand, prisoners tend to use jailhouse lawyers to file petitions that

In delving further into the debate between the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of mandatory sentencing, it is relevant to scrutinize the constitutionality of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. There is concern “that the Guidelines did not allow sufficient judicial discretion.” Congress in turn argued that the Guidelines were created to alleviate the disproportionate sentences created by judicial discretion.

The United States Supreme Court ruled that prison overcrowding in California was equivalent to cruel and unusual punishment. This decision recharged a long-standing disagreement among scholars and politicians as to whether or not courts should intervene to protect make changes. Some believe this is a matter or the well-being of those unable to make decisions for themselves. Others believe this is not a top priority and by forcing states to improve state institutions, the already costly industry will have cost increase. The journal also discusses the economic effects reform has had. Concluding that they have made positive changes at a slightly higher expense. The changes made by the state made the facilities closer to “humane” by court standards. (7)

Introduction: Try to imagine this scenario. Taking a mini vacation in an unknown city with some friends. The night gets hectic, there is miscommunication and unimaginable words get put into the air and things happened and the police gets called. Next thing you know is your friend is in the back of the police car. Throughout my life I personally knew plenty of people who have been in the county jail and people who came from the penitentiary. Two years ago I worked at Saint Louis County Circuit Court, which is connected to the Justice Center. In Saint Louis, Missouri, we call our local county jail the Justice Center. I did a lot of research for this speech that I present to you. Today I will be speaking on imprisonment. When you do the crime you have to do the time. Throughout my speech I will be informing you on the difference between life in jail versus prison, the punishments, and life after you get released.

By 1970s the federal judges made changes on prisons and jails throughout nearly every state. The changes such as law libraries, legal assistance, communication to the outside is easier, religious rights are protected, inmate complaints, and due process rights are now all being emphasized. With a big change that no one knew how it could work is inmates in solitary confinement now suffer less neglect than before. From the huge threat of lawsuits and public exposure placed mostly in the correctional bureaucracy on higher guard. Wardens now refrain from the traditional disciplinary actions which may cause a judicial intervention. From this change, it has brought in improved management, new administrators and reformulated policies. The impact of the extension of rights has not been measure, but former evidence shows courts decisions have brought a broad effect. In O’Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, the court had ruled that Muslims should be granted the right of free exercise to practice their religions. Hudson v. Palmer, had noted that the protection from search and seizures had not applied within the confines of the prisoner’s cell. Rhodes v. Chapman when two inmates are put in a one-person cell this could be seen as cruel and unusual punishment. In Wolff v. McDonnel this had extended out certain due process right giving more procedures when in prison. All these decisions helped out a prisoner and as well correctional staff as it brought prisoners protection. It gave the staff

The ethical theory of utilitarianism and the perspective on relativism, of prison labor along with the relativism on criminal behavior of individuals incarcerated are two issues that need to be addressed. Does the utilitarianism of prisoner’s right laws actually protect them? Or are the unethical actions of the international and states right laws exploiting the prison labor? Unethical procedures that impact incarcerated individuals and correctional staff, the relativism of respect as people and not just prisoner’s; the safety of all inmates and correctional staff, are all issues worth continuous reflection.

Although inmates are sentenced to correctional facilities because of criminal behavior, certain rights are still applied to inmates based on historical court rulings. Contrary to early history regarding inmates and their rights, the U.S. Supreme Court has played a vital role in weighing in and resulting in major court proceedings that are related to inmate rights. Through a lengthy process, substantive rights have been granted by courts and have impacted the nation's corrections system (Siegel & Bartollas, 2014).  Simply put, inmates serving time for a crime are subject to limited rights as before they were incarcerated with some restrictions. Therefore, inmates began to use their rights and test the waters of how they could exercise their

When a person goes to prison, they have some of their rights taken away. This is part of the US corrections system. Unfortunately, as these prisoners are released and becoming free US citizens, their rights are not fully guaranteed. These rights are laid out in the UDHR, the US constitution, and are commonplace in the developed countries of the world. For America to not provide recently released prisoners with these same rights would constitute a violation.

In the 1970s and 1980s, a massive amount of inmates began fillin up the United States prison systems. This huge rate of growth in this short amount of time, has greatly contributed to the prison overcrowding that the United States faces today. In fact, the prisons are still filled to the seams. This enormous flood of inmates has made it practically impossible for prison officials to keep up with their facilities and supervise their inmates. One of the main reasons why many prisons have become overcrowded is because of states’ harsh criminal laws and parole practices (Cohen). “One in every 100 American adults is behind bars, the highest incarceration rate in the world” (Cohen). The amount of inmates in corrections systems, throughout the