Prisoners’ rights are the rights of the prisoners against discrimination or abuse within correctional facilities. Both federal and state laws govern the rights of the incarcerated and oversee the operation of the prisons. While prisoners do not enjoy full constitutional rights, they do receive Eighth Amendment protection from cruel and unusual punishment.For instance, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that California jails must abide by the court-mandated population limits to prevent overpopulation, and thus affording inmates a minimum standard of living in Brown v. Plata.
Another guaranteed constitutional right for the incarcerated are due process rights. Inmates enjoy the protection of the due process rights in the administrative processes within the carceral system (such as administrative appeals), as well as the parole process access rights. The Equal Protection Clause, stemming from the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States, offers protection to incarcerated individuals from discrimination and unequal treatment based solely on their race, sex, or creed. Also, the Uniform Law Commission gave rise to the Model Sentencing and Corrections Act, which protects individuals’ freedom from discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin in 1978. Lastly, incarcerated individuals are guaranteed the right to religion and free speech as long as their status as prisoners does not interfere with these protected rights.
In Pennsylvania Dept. of Corrections v. Yeskey, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not provide any basis for differentiating programs, services, and activities of prisons from those of non-prison public entities. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Corrections v. Yeskey ruling in 1998 does apply to prisons, protecting prisoners with disabilities, granting them reasonable accommodations while incarcerated. The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) requires that prior to challenging the confinement conditions of a prison, the prisoner must exhaust all administrative remedies. The exhaustion requirements for prisoners, as well as the rights and obligations of inmates, was laid out by Jones v. Bock (2007).
If an officer or a fellow prisoner assaults an inmate, then the inmate could file a grievance and appeal at all possible levels of appeal.
See: CRIPA (Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons) - 42 U.S.C. § 1997 ET SEQ., DOJ-Rights of Persons Confined to Jails and Prisons, Special Litigation Section Cases and Matters, United Nations Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners, Federal Bureau of Prisons.
[Last updated in March of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]