Exam 3: Corrections and the Courts

The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause can be found in which Constitutional Amendment?

What has the Court said about an inmates' freedom of religion? What rationales for denying religious requests do you think should be acceptable?

Which Amendment provides a right to counsel for persons facing criminal prosecution that ends at the point of sentencing?

There are approximately how many inmates held in solitary confinement?

The Court has long held that the government may prevent the expression of political views, artistic expression, or religious beliefs without justification.

Most prisons regularly place inmates in solitary confinement or isolation (known among inmates as _________).

Even a relatively mild injury (e.g., minor bruising from a slap to the face) might offend standards of decency if imposed in a manner that is _________________.

Ethics Focus: "It's a Matter of Paperwork" An inmate named Billy was sexually assaulted over a month ago. He is having difficulty filling out the grievance paperwork claiming that the guard on duty that night ignored his calls for help. The prisoner only has a tenth-grade education. He has asked you for some help in filling out the forms. Your supervisor has told you in the past not to help inmates with their paperwork. According to the Department of Corrections rules, if inmates do not meet the filing deadlines, then the matter will be dropped. The courts are very technical about such deadlines and will not hear any appeals after a deadline has been missed. Your feel sorry for the inmate. He is not that strong and has a difficult time defending himself. You know the guard in question, and he does not always do everything he should. The guard claims that he did what he could and followed institutional guidelines. You were not present that night, though, so you do not know exactly what happened. -Should you help the inmate with the grievance paperwork? Why or why not?

A frequent criticism of prisoner lawsuits is that they are frivolous. Cite examples from this chapter that either support or dispute this claim.

Describe the hands-off, hands-on, and due deference approaches to corrections. Which do you think is the most appropriate philosophy?

What are some of the issues surrounding the overcrowding of prisons? What are some solutions to overcrowding?

Prisoner access to the courts is not specifically mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, yet the Supreme Court and other courts have affirmed that it is a fundamental right implied in the due process clause of which Amendment?

Which Supreme Court case ruled that a consideration of broad "overall conditions" is not sufficient to ascertain if cruel and unusual punishment exists; greater specificity about particular conditions is required?

While the law allowed for state prisoners to use the federal courts to litigate claims since the Civil War era, the federal system did not display much interest in correctional issues until the 1960s.

In which case did the Supreme Court give the concept of cruel and unusual punishment a flexible definition in reference to "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society"?

In which case did the Supreme Court rule that "state prisoners must give the state courts one full opportunity to resolve any constitutional issues by invoking one complete round of the State's established appellate review process"?

Since the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling on this matter in _______________, inmates have generally had to use habeas corpus petitions to challenge the legality and duration of their confinement and Section 1983 suits to challenge the constitutionality of conditions under which they are held.

Procunier v Martinez (1974) was the first major Supreme Court ruling on __________.