NCJ Number
51024
Journal
CRIMINAL LAW REPORTER Volume: 23 Issue: 17 Dated: (AUGUST 2, 1978), SUPPLEMENT
Date Published
1978
Length
14 pages
Annotation
THIS PAPER CONSIDERS JUDICIAL INVOLVEMENT IN PRISON LITIGATION AND REFORM AND IN THE DISPOSITION OF CASES.
Abstract
THERE IS MORE JUDICIAL ACTIVISIM AT THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT LEVEL, WHERE JUDGES HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE CONDITIONS FIRST HAND, THAN AT HIGHER COURT LEVELS. A PRISON-REFORM DECISION MADE BY THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT IN RHODE ISLAND IS CONDUCIVE TO REFORM AND HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PRISON SYSTEM NATIONALLY. THE CASE IS SIGNIFICANT FOR CONDITIONS-OF-CONFINEMENT DECISIONS, AND SEVERAL ELEMENTS NECESSARY FOR EFFECTIVE REFORM HAVE CONVERGED IN THE STATE TO CREATE EXCELLENT CONDITIONS FOR REFORM. THE JUDGE IN THE CASE NOTED THAT FEDERAL COURTS ARE PROPERLY RELUCTANT TO INTERFERE WITH THE OPERATION OF STATE PRISONS BUT ACKNOWLEDGED THAT OFFICIALS WHO SYSTEMATICALLY DEPRIVE PRISONERS OF THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS CAN EXPECT AND ARE ENTITLED TO NO DEFERENCE FROM FEDERAL COURTS. ANOTHER CASE IS CITED IN WHICH A THREE-JUDGE PANEL IN PENNSYLVANIA HELD PUBLIC OFFICIALS IN CONTEMPT FOR FAILING TO COMPLY WITH A JUDICIAL PRISON-REFORM DECREE. JUDICIAL INTERVENTION IN THE RHODE ISLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA PRISON-REFORM CASES OFFERS, AT BEST, AN IMPERFECT SOLUTION TO THE MANY PROBLEMS PRESENTED BY THE CASES. JUDICIAL RESTRAINT AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO AID MANAGEMENT, PRISON FUNDING, AND LITIGATION CASES INVOLVING CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM ARE RECOMMENDED. STATE COURTS CAN BE A SOURCE OF RECOURSE WHEN THERE IS A VIOLATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. WITH REGARD TO DISTRICT COURTS, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT EACH COURT INSTITUTE A CENTRALIZED METHOD OF PROCESSING PRISONER COMPLAINTS. A LIST OF CITED DECISIONS AND A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON PRISON CONDITIONS-OF-CONFINEMENT CASES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)