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  1. Introduction
    1. Inmates as "slaves of the state"
    2. The "hands-off" doctrine
    3. The beginnings of the prisoners' rights movement


  2. Attica, 1971
    1. Conditions at Attica
      1. for inmates
        1. mail and reading material restricted
        2. 14-16 hours per day in the cell
        3. tight regulations and many petty rules
      2. for officers
        1. monotonous work
        2. culture conflict with inmates
        3. frustration, tension, and fear
      3. racism, fueled by conflict between the races outside the walls.
    2. The revolt
      1. growing tensions between officers and inmates
      2. precipitating incidents
    3. The assault
      1. failed negotiations
      2. assault by state police
      3. 10 officer hostages and 29 inmates killed, all by state police gunfire


  3. In Pursuit of Prisoners' Rights
    1. The traditional view of inmates and the reluctance of the courts to intervene in prison affairs
    2. The Writ of Habeas Corpus
      1. challenging the lawfulness of confinement
      2. extended to challenging the conditions of confinement
    3. Civil rights and prisoners, rights
      1. Civil Rights Act of 1871 (Section 1983)
      2. Monroe v. Pape (1961), citizens can sue state officials in federal court for violation of civil rights
      3. later Supreme Court rulings apply to prison inmates
      4. does not require exhaustion of state remedies and can result in monetary damages


  4. Legal Services in Prison
    1. Ex parte Hull (1941), inmate access to the courts
    2. Johnson v. Avery (1969)
      1. absence of meaningful access to the courts
      2. the rise of "jailhouse lawyers"
      3. in the absence of alternative legal services, jailhouse lawyers must be permitted to assist inmates seeking postconviction relief
      4. subsequent decisions in the 1970s
    3. Jailhouse lawyers
      1. perceived threats to prison administration
      2. the continuing significance of the role of jailhouse lawyers


  5. Constitutional Rights and Civil Disabilities
    1. Bills of attainder, prohibited by the U.S. Constitution
    2. Civil death, the loss of all civil rights
    3. Religion
      1. traditionally encouraged or even required
      2. the Black Muslim movement of the 1960s
    4. Mail and media interviews
      1. restrictions on mail to prevent trafficking in contraband, prevent communication concerning escape plots, etc.
      2. U.S. Supreme Court rulings in the 1970s limited prison officials, power to totally restrict inmate mail communication (Procunier v. Martinez, 1974)
      3. The "reasonableness" standard replaces the "substantial government interest" standard in 1989 (Thornburgh v. Abbot)
    5. Rehabilitative services
      1. rehabilitative treatment is not a constitutional right
      2. restrictions on rehabilitative practices that seem more like punishment (A Clockwork Orange)
      3. some treatment programs may be mandatory (education, mental illness)
    6. Medical services
      1. Estelle v. Gamble, 1976, deliberate indifference
      2. prison responses to HIV/AIDS
    7. Prisoner labor unions, no constitutional right to form a union


  6. Prison Discipline and Constitutional Rights
    1. Papillon and the French penal colonies
    2. The Arkansas prison scandal
      1. abuses of inmates, "The Tucker Telephone"
      2. Thomas O. Merton
      3. the trusty system
      4. corruption exposed to the press in 1968
      5. Arkansas prison system declared unconstitutional in 1970, Holt v. Sarver
    3. Solitary confinement
      1. traditional means of disciplining inmates
      2. solitary confinement is not unconstitutional, certain conditions of confinement may be unconstitutional
    4. The Lash, Jackson v. Bishop (1968), whipping is in violation of the Eighth Amendment
    5. Prison disciplinary proceedings
      1. traditionally arbitrary administrative operations controlled by wardens
      2. requirement for due process, Wolff v. McDonnell (1974)


  7. The Conditions of Incarceration
    1. Prisons should not impose punishment of a barbaric nature above and beyond incarceration
    2. The Texas prison suit
      1. Texas prisons in the 1970s
      2. the problem of overcrowding
      3. breakdown of control in the early 1980s
      4. Ruiz v. Estelle (1980), Texas system declared unconstitutional
    3. The New Mexico inmate massacre
    4. Future prospects
      1. continuing problems related to overcrowding and poor prison conditions
      2. the riots at Deer Lodge, Montana (1991), and Lucasville, Ohio (1993)
      3. lockdowns used to confine inmates around the clock as a control device
      4. continuing problems at Attica and New Mexico State Penitentiary


  8. Reform Versus Law and Order
    1. The prison dilemma of the 1990s, increasing inmate rights and unprecedented growth in prison populations
    2. Rhodes v. Chapman (1981), double-celling is not unconstitutional considering "totality of circumstances"
    3. Hudson v. Palmer, (1984), inmates have no Fourth Amendment protection
    4. Wilson v. Seiter, (1991), inmate must prove "deliberate indifference" by prison officials when alleging that confinement violates the Eighth Amendment
    5. Privatization of corrections, prisons built and operated by private business





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