Deck 14: Legal Issues and Liability

Question 1

During the "hands-off" phase of judicial intervention:

A) Inmates had few rights
B) Correctional administrators functioned with few restraints
C) Correctional staff had few concerns about liability
D) A and B
E) All of the above

Answer 1

All of the above

Question 2

Under the "restrained-hands" phase of judicial intervention, the courts have been attempting to balance _______ with _______. Select the option that makes this statement true when placed in the blanks:

A) Inmate rights, officer discretion
B) Inmate rights, facility safety and security
C) Inmate safety, administrative rules
D) Administrative rules, facility safety and security
E) Administrative rules, constitutional prohibitions

Answer 2

Inmate rights, facility safety and security

Question 3

During the "hands-off" phase of judicial intervention in corrections, the courts did not tend to interfere with correctional practices for many years because:

A) The right of inmates to appeal conditions of confinement had not been established
B) Correctional administrators were presumed to be the experts who knew best how to run their facilities
C) Public attitudes were much more liberal then
D) A and B
E) All of the above

Answer 3

A and B

Question 4

During the "involved-hands" phase of judicial intervention:

A) Inmates gained access to the courts to challenge correctional policies and practices
B) Certain operational decisions became subject to due process protections
C) More power was given to correctional administrators
D) A and B
E) All of the above

Question 5

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below:

-Legal action is initiated by the individual victim.

A) Criminal law
B) Civil law
C) Both A and B

Question 6

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below:

-Action is invoked as a result of harm caused to society.

A) Criminal law
B) Civil law
C) Both A and B

Question 7

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below:

-The state (i.e., government) is responsible for bringing charges.

A) Criminal law
B) Civil law
C) Both A and B

Question 8

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below:

-Action is taken for the purpose of obtaining monetary compensation.

A) Criminal law
B) Civil law
C) Both A and B

Question 9

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below:

-The court can award nominal, compensatory, or punitive damages.

A) Criminal law
B) Civil law
C) Both A and B

Question 10

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below:

-An inmate seeks $10 million in damages for being kept on a bread-and-water diet and held in solitary confinement in violation of due process rights. The court holds the correctional agency liable in the amount of $3.5 million.

A) Nominal damages
B) Compensatory damages
C) Punitive damages

Question 11

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below:

-An inmate seeks $2 million in damages for being forced to sleep on the floor without a mattress for two days when the facility was drastically overcrowded. The court rules in favor of the inmate, and issues a "cease and desist" order to the agency to prevent it from allowing this practice in the future. However, the court holds the agency liable for only $20 ($10 for each day that the inmate had to sleep on the floor).

A) Nominal damages
B) Compensatory damages
C) Punitive damages

Question 12

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below:

-An inmate seeks $10,000 to cover the costs of oral surgery and extensive dental work that was required after he was beaten up by another inmate who was supposed to have been placed in a safety cell because of his past assaultive behavior. The court holds the agency liable for the full $10,000.

A) Nominal damages
B) Compensatory damages
C) Punitive damages

Question 13

Vicarious liability involves liability for:

A) One's own actions
B) The actions of subordinates (one's followers)
C) The actions of the warden or director of corrections
D) The actions of anyone in the line of duty
E) Any of the above

Question 14

Given only the facts stated, determine whether the situations described below reflect circumstances involving vicarious liability (A or B). If not vicarious, indicate whether there is any potential for liability at all (C or D). In other words, every item marked "B" will also have a second answer.

-An officer's supervisor tells her to make sure that she conducts checks at least every 10 minutes of the inmates in safety cells. She gets tied up with something else and misses one of the scheduled checks, during which time an inmate hangs himself.

A) Yes (reflects vicarious liability)
B) No (does not reflect vicarious liability) and
C) While not vicarious, the potential for liability is involved (or)
D) Potential for liability is not involved

Question 15

Given only the facts stated, determine whether the situations described below reflect circumstances involving vicarious liability (A or B). If not vicarious, indicate whether there is any potential for liability at all (C or D). In other words, every item marked "B" will also have a second answer.

-An inmate complains every day that he cannot eat the food on the regular menu because he has a food allergy. He is sent to the doctor, who finds him allergic only to large amounts of milk. Milk products are removed from his diet, but he is still complaining that he needs to be provided with a better grade of meat because of his allergy. He threatens to sue.

A) Yes (reflects vicarious liability)
B) No (does not reflect vicarious liability) and
C) While not vicarious, the potential for liability is involved (or)
D) Potential for liability is not involved

Question 16

Given only the facts stated, determine whether the situations described below reflect circumstances involving vicarious liability (A or B). If not vicarious, indicate whether there is any potential for liability at all (C or D). In other words, every item marked "B" will also have a second answer.

-An officer has been employed under the historic approach and is scheduled to go to the training academy within the next three months. During that time, she was not informed of the agency's policy about using leg restraints during outside transportation. She takes an inmate to a court appearance and, as they are exiting the vehicle, the inmate takes off. Two days later, he rapes and murders a teenage girl. Her family threatens to sue.

A) Yes (reflects vicarious liability)
B) No (does not reflect vicarious liability) and
C) While not vicarious, the potential for liability is involved (or)
D) Potential for liability is not involved

Question 17

Given only the facts stated, determine whether the situations described below reflect circumstances involving vicarious liability (A or B). If not vicarious, indicate whether there is any potential for liability at all (C or D). In other words, every item marked "B" will also have a second answer.

-An agency has a very high turnover rate and is desperate for new officers. A candidate applies who has just been fired from another correctional agency. He maintains that he was fired over a personality clash with his supervisor. In the rush to get him processed, the personnel office accepts his word and does not investigate further. In truth, he was fired for continued use of excessive force. During his probationary period, he severely beats an inmate who refused his order to turn down the TV. The inmate subsequently files a lawsuit.

A) Yes (reflects vicarious liability)
B) No (does not reflect vicarious liability) and
C) While not vicarious, the potential for liability is involved (or)
D) Potential for liability is not involved

Question 18

Correctional personnel cannot be held criminally liable for their actions if they can prove that they acted in self-defense.

Question 19

If a correctional officer is brought to court on criminal charges of assaulting an inmate and is acquitted, the inmate can still file a claim in civil court.

Question 20

Correctional officials must provide inmates with unrestricted opportunity to exercise their First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

Question 21

First Amendment freedom of religion rights extend only to the traditional faiths of Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant.

Question 22

The courts have been somewhat reluctant to order corrections to comply with religious requirements that pose logistical and economic problems in their implementation.

Question 23

Practicing a religion such as satanism can be restricted if it presents a clear danger to the orderly functioning of a correctional institution.

Question 24

If a correctional institution has Jewish or Black Muslim inmates, the courts have held that pork must be eliminated from the menu.

Question 25

If correctional officials have evidence that a certain religious group has been plotting a riot, special escorts can be required when moving its members to their religious services, even if such escorts are not required for other religious groups.

Question 26

The courts have upheld the right of correctional officials to prohibit inmates from wearing any religious medals, regardless of whether it can be proven that they present a danger to the institution.

Question 27

The censorship of all incoming inmate mail has been upheld by the courts on the basis of the need to maintain institutional security.

Question 28

Correspondence with one's attorney cannot be read or censored.

Question 29

Correspondence with one's attorney can be opened and inspected for contraband in the presence of the inmate.

Question 30

The First Amendment right to freedom of the press protects an inmate's right to receive pornographic material.

Question 31

If an inmate's mail is rejected, the inmate must be notified, and the author of the letter must be allowed to protest.

Question 32

Under most circumstances, frisking inmates and conducting cell searches do not fall within the Fourth Amendment's search and seizure provisions.

Question 33

The courts have ruled that it is a violation of constitutional rights to strip-search an inmate returning from work release unless all other inmates in the institution are strip-searched at the same time.

Question 34

A troublesome inmate who has been creating a number of disturbances can be strip-searched randomly to occupy his idle time and keep him in line.

Question 35

An inmate body-cavity search cannot be conducted without reasonable suspicion.

Question 36

Once visitors enter correctional facilities, they are entitled to no more Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights than the inmates confined there.

Question 37

Visitors can be required to submit to a frisk search as a condition of being allowed to visit an inmate.

Question 38

Visitors can be required to submit to a strip search as a condition of being allowed to visit an inmate.

Question 39

Staff working in correctional facilities have no more Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure than inmates.

Question 40

With regard to drug-testing, the same due process protections apply to both applicants and employed personnel.

Question 41

The courts have ruled that, whenever facilities are overcrowded, they are in violation of the cruel and unusual punishment provision of the Eighth Amendment.

Question 42

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the infliction of capital punishment violates the Eighth Amendment.

Question 43

Drug tests can be required of:

A) Any applicant for a correctional position
B) Only those applicants for whom there is reasonable suspicion
C) Any correctional officer for whom there is reasonable suspicion
D) Only those officers who are in assignments where the safety of others may be in jeopardy, such as transportation or positions requiring access to firearms
E) A and C
F) B and C

Question 44

The courts have held that double-bunking:

A) Is a violation of inmates' constitutional rights
B) Is grossly disproportionate punishment to the severity of crimes for which inmates are incarcerated
C) Is not ever a violation of inmates' constitutional rights
D) May be a violation of inmates' constitutional rights, depending on other conditions within the facility
E) A and B

Question 45

With regard to medical care, the courts have ruled that correctional officials will be in violation of Eighth Amendment rights if they:

A) Are deliberately indifferent to serious medical needs
B) Provide medical care that is the wrong treatment for the inmate's ailment
C) Refer an inmate to a doctor who does not properly diagnose the cause of the problem
D) Do not provide the best possible health care
E) All of the above

Question 46

When inmates file a suit alleging constitutional violations as a result of conditions of confinement and correctional officials agree to take action to remedy the situation rather than contest the allegations, this action is called:

A) An injunction
B) A writ of habeas corpus
C) A voluntary relinquishment
D) A contempt of court
E) A consent decree

Question 47

The Prison Litigation Reform Act has attempted to:

A) Discourage inmates from filing lawsuits
B) Punish inmates who file frivolous lawsuits
C) Encourage alternatives to litigation such as inmate grievance procedures
D) A and B
E) All of the above

Question 48

Supporters of the death penalty argue that:

A) There is little significant difference in murder rates between states with and without the death penalty
B) The public could be adequately protected by life without parole
C) It is fitting retribution for the crime of murder
D) Such a violent response by society can encourage further violence
E) All of the above

Question 49

Research on the death penalty has generally found that:

A) States with the death penalty tend to have substantially lower murder rates
B) States without the death penalty tend to have substantially higher murder rates
C) States without the death penalty tend to have high rates of recidivism for murder
D) Murder rates do not differ according to whether or not a state has the death penalty
E) A and B

Question 50

The Supreme Court has ruled that capital punishment is:

A) Permitted in certain states but prohibited in others
B) A violation of the Eighth Amendment
C) A violation of the Eighth Amendment, unless it is administered by lethal injection
D) Not a violation of the Eighth Amendment
E) Permitted only in states where constitutional restrictions are not applicable

Question 51

The Supreme Court has ruled that capital punishment is:

A)Permitted in certain states but prohibited in others
B)A violation of the Eighth Amendment
C)A violation of the Eighth Amendment, unless it is administered by lethal injection
D)Not a violation of the Eighth Amendment
E)Permitted only in states where Constitutional restrictions are not applicable

Question 52

Action is taken for the purpose of obtaining monetary compensation. This describes:

A)Legal action is initiated by the individual victim.
B)Action is invoked as a result of harm caused to society.

Question 53

The state (i.e., government) is responsible for bringing charges. This describes:

A)Legal action is initiated by the individual victim.
B)Action is invoked as a result of harm caused to society.

Question 54

Action is invoked as a result of harm caused to society. This describes:

A)Legal action is initiated by the individual victim.
B)Action is invoked as a result of harm caused to society.

Question 55

Legal action is initiated by the individual victim. This describes:

A)Legal action is initiated by the individual victim.
B)Action is invoked as a result of harm caused to society.

Question 56

During the "involved-hands" phase of judicial intervention:

A)Inmates gained access to the courts to challenge correctional policies and practices
B)Certain operational decisions became subject to due process protections
C)More power was given to correctional administrators
D)A and B
E)All of the above

Question 57

During the "hands-off" phase of judicial intervention in corrections, the courts did not tend to interfere with correctional practices for many years because:

A)The right of inmates to appeal conditions of confinement had not been established
B)Correctional administrators were presumed to be the experts who knew best how to run their facilities
C)Public attitudes were much more liberal then
D)A and B
E)All of the above

Question 58

Under the "restrained-hands" phase of judicial intervention, the courts have been attempting to balance _________ with ___________. Select the option that makes this statement true when placed in the blanks:

A)Inmate rights...............officer discretion
B)Inmate rights...............facility safety and security
C)Inmate safety...............administrative rules
D)Administrative rules....facility safety and security
E)Administrative rules....Constitutional prohibitions

Question 59

During the "hands-off" phase of judicial intervention:

A)Inmates had few rights
B)Correctional administrators functioned with few restraints
C)Correctional staff had few concerns about liability
D)A and B
E)All of the above

Question 60

The court can award nominal, compensatory, or punitive damages. This describes:

A)Legal action is initiated by the individual victim.
B)Action is invoked as a result of harm caused to society.

Question 61

An inmate seeks $10 million in damages for being kept on a bread and water diet and held in solitary confinement in violation of due process rights. The court holds the correctional agency liable in the amount of $3.5 million. This describes:

A)Nominal damages
B)Compensatory damages
C)Punitive damages

Question 62

An inmate seeks $2 million in damages for being forced to sleep on the floor without a mattress for two days when the facility was drastically overcrowded. The court rules in favor of the inmate, and issues a "cease and desist" order to the agency to prevent it from allowing this practice in the future. However, the court holds the agency liable for only $20, ($10 for each day that the inmate had to sleep on the floor) This describes:

A)Nominal damages
B)Compensatory damages
C)Punitive damages

Question 63

Supporters of the death penalty argue that:

A)It is fitting retribution for the crime of murder
B)Such a violent response by society can encourage further violence
C)All of the above
D)There is little significant difference in murder rates between states with and without the death penalty
E)The public could be adequately protected by life without parole

Question 64

The Prison Litigation Reform Act has attempted to:

A)Discourage inmates from filing lawsuits
B)Punish inmates who file frivolous lawsuits
C)Encourage alternatives to litigation such as inmate grievance procedures
D)A and B
E)All of the above

Question 65

When inmates file a suit alleging constitutional violations as a result of conditions of confinement and correctional officials agree to take action to remedy the situation rather than contest the allegations, this action is called:

A)An injunction
B)A writ of habeas corpus
C)A voluntary relinquishment
D)A contempt of court
E)A consent decree

Question 66

With regard to medical care, the courts have ruled that correctional officials will be in violation of Eighth Amendment rights if they:

A)Are deliberately indifferent to serious medical needs
B)Provide medical care that is the wrong treatment for the inmate's ailment
C)Refer an inmate to a doctor who does not properly diagnose the cause of the problem
D)Do not provide the best possible health care
E)All of the above

Question 67

The courts have held that double-bunking:

A)Is a violation of inmates' constitutional rights
B)Is grossly disproportionate punishment to the severity of crimes for which inmates are incarcerated
C)Is not ever a violation of inmates' constitutional rights
D)May be a violation of inmates' constitutional rights, depending on other conditions within the facility
E)A and B

Question 68

Drug tests can be required of:

A)Any applicant for a correctional position
B)Only those applicants for whom there is reasonable suspicion
C)Any correctional officer for whom there is reasonable suspicion
D)Only those officers who are in assignments where the safety of others may be in jeopardy, such as transportation or positions requiring access to firearms
E)A and C

Question 69

Vicarious liability involves liability for:

A)One's own actions
B)The actions of subordinates (one's followers)
C)The actions of the warden or director of corrections
D)The actions of anyone in the line of duty
E)Any of the above

Question 70

An inmate seeks $10,000 to cover the costs of oral surgery and extensive dental work that was required after he was beaten up by another inmate who was supposed to have been placed in a safety cell because of his past assaultive behavior. The court holds the agency liable for the full $10,000. This describes:

A)Nominal damages
B)Compensatory damages
C)Punitive damages

Question 71

The courts have ruled that whenever facilities are overcrowded, they are in violation of the cruel and unusual punishment provision of the Eighth Amendment.

Question 72

With regard to drug testing, the same due process protections apply to both applicants and employed personnel.

Question 73

The courts have upheld the right of correctional officials to prohibit inmates from wearing any religious medals, regardless of whether it can be proven that they present a danger to the institution.

Question 74

Court decisions have been virtually unanimous in upholding the right of correctional officials to require that inmates maintain a short haircut and clean-shaven face.

Question 75

If correctional officials have evidence that a certain religious group has been plotting a riot, special escorts can be required when moving its members to their religious services, even if such escorts are not required for other religious groups.

Question 76

If a correctional institution has Jewish or Black Muslim inmates, the courts have held that pork must be eliminated from the menu.

Question 77

Practicing a religion such as satanism can be restricted if it presents a clear danger to the orderly functioning of a correctional institution.

Question 78

The courts have been somewhat reluctant to order corrections to comply with religious requirements that pose logistical and economic problems to implement.

Question 79

First Amendment freedom of religion rights extend only to the traditional faiths of Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant.

Question 80

Correctional officials must provide inmates with unrestricted opportunity to exercise their First Amendment right to freedom of religion.