Question
Research inmate’s rights in several different states. Compare and contrast the inmates’ rights in the different states. Critique the different rights and identify which are most important.
Answer
Introduction
State and Federal government legislation govern the building and management of prisons
and the rights of prisoners. While inmates do not have absolute rights and freedoms, they are
protected against capital punishment by the Eighth Amendment. This protection also demands a
minimum quality of life for inmates. For instance, in Brown v. Plata, a short-term population
restriction was affirmed by the Supreme Court to control overcrowding, which infringes the
California Eighth Amendment. However, inmates maintain some fundamental rights, such as the
right to redress and to access the parole process, in due course. The Fourteenth Amendment also
applies to prisoners who protect them from unfair treatment on racial, sexual, and religious
grounds. The Uniform Laws Commission Model Sentencing and Corrections Act of 1978 offers
that the rights afforded are safeguarded against racial discrimination, religious belief, or public
good (John, 2019). In addition, prisoners enjoy rights to speak and religion in as much as they do
not affect their position as prisoners.
Comparisons
Judiciary has a responsibility and a legal function on every state to safeguard people's
human rights. This role is entrusted to the higher justice system, namely the US Supreme Court
and the High Courts, following the mandate of the Constitution of the US. Perhaps one of the
most active tribunals in human rights protection is the United States Supreme Court. It is well
known for its impartiality and integrity (Malkin & DeJong, 2019). The autonomous justice
process is based on the rule of law, which includes three aspects of government: the executive,
legislative, and the courts.
Inmates Categorization
State inmates have no rights under state law to specific categories. As used here, classification denotes a prisoner’s correctional categorization after conviction, for
example, maximum v. minimal security, solitary confinement, et cetera. Tribunals hesitate to
limit state prison officers power to categorize inmates. Officials of the Federal Prison have
complete authority to manage the designation of prisoners as affected by circumstances (Mlakin
& DeJong, 2019). The Federal Prison Office usually monitors federal categories.
Disability Act
Disabled persons are eligible under the American Disabilities Act for specific decent
accommodation. Therefore, it guarantees that inmates with disabilities have equal access to
prisons and facilities as non-disabled convicts. But it simply needs to be respectable, not
exceptional, or the best lodgings. In Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court declared DOC v. Yeskey
in the late 1990s that these projects, programs, and facilities cannot be separated from
government institutions nor prisoners under the American Handicaps Act (ADA) (John, 2019).
The ADA does not differentiate inmates from non-prisons, therefore providing special
adjustments in inmates with disabilities.
Review of Judiciary on inmates rights
The tendency is for courts to refer prison authorities to prison rights. The terms or grades
of a prisoner's imprisonment are contained within the sentencing, and otherwise, in breach of the Constitution, judicial supervision is required regarding the due process provision. In cases in
which prison restrictions violate the rights and freedoms of the prisoner, the courts are not
strictly examined (Hill, 2015). Instead, the reasonable foundation test is employed to evaluate if
the violation may occur.
Important Inmates rights
Freedom from sexual harassment
Detainees are entitled to liberate themselves from sexual or sexual assault. It is true of
crimes or harassment by other prisoners or prison staff. The Courts held guards, administrators,
and even public officials accountable for permitting or systemically imposing sexual assault on
the prisoners (Hill, 2015). Such actions might be punished both with civil and criminal
consequences.
Freedom to Petition on Imprisonment and Accessibility to the Court system
Insiders have the right to protest about prison circumstances and make both prison
authorities and tribunals aware of their concerns (Weller, 2020). Prisoners who refused such
rights faced civil sentences for instances such as placing in lonely custody following a complaint
about jail conditions against prison personnel.
Universal and Mental Healthcare
Inmates have the right to medical and mental healthcare. Like handicapped
accommodations, these therapies need to be fair or additional. Thus, if someone has cavities,
they may not have the right to have filled, but only to extract their tooth (Weller, 2020). Even
people who have existing diseases, such as AIDS or different types of cancer, receive the minor
therapy required to maintain their comfort decently rather than necessarily lengthen their lives or
fight against their diseases.
Contrast
Freedom against Solitary confinement and bar fetters rights
The courts have a strong opinion against solitary confinement and found it extraordinarily
humiliating and inhumane for inmates to impose isolated confusion. The courts held that it could
only be enforced if the convicted was so dangerous that he should be separated from the other
convicts in extraordinary circumstances. The Supreme Court questioned the constitutionality of
solitary confinement in many States (Nowakowski, 2016). The Supreme Court also vehemently
contested the fact that the convicts were placed with bar fetters.
Inhumane inmates Treatment Rights
Human rights belong to human dignity as a component. In numerous situations, the Supreme
Court of America has taken a significant note of the cruel treatment of detainees and sent the jail
and police agencies eligible orders to protect inmates and individuals' rights in police custody.
The Constitution provides the Supreme Court with the right against torture (Nowakowski, 2016).
The Court noted that Treatments for a human being which violated human rights would surely be arbitrary and may, following Article 14, impose unnecessary suffering and bring man back to the level of the beast.
Critique
Prisoners are usually deprived of private rights in jail. They are not secured against an
unauthorized person or cell inspections, including no kind of contraband when detainees
preserve their personal property and are free from the deliberate confiscation of their property by
prison personnel (Hill, 2015). Moreover, every prisoner is not typically subject to employment
regulations, such as minimum wage standards, even when it is part of a work-release program or
other employment initiatives.
Prisoners only maintain those First Amendment rights, for example, freedom of
expression, that is not in breach of their position as prisoners and conform to the legitimate
purposes of the system of criminal prisons like protection of order, regulation, and safety. In this
connection, prison officials have the right to open mail to inside prisoners to verify that no illicit
goods or weapons can include but that no section of the mail they believe to be merely
provocative or unpleasant is censored. Detainees need to be free of unlawful and deliberate
seizure of their private property by jail personnel under the judicial review clause of the
Constitution (Weller, 2020). However, prisoners are not adequately expected to have
confidentiality in their prisons and are not guarded against shakedowns or cell searches to seek guns, drugs, money, or other contraband.
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