Redressing Prisoners' Grievances

An Introduction discusses prison riots as demands for decent conditions & civil treatment & the remedies prisoners have available re their grievances. Then the "Hands-Off" Doctrine & its abrogation in the decade of the 1960's & the following prisoners' rights are examined: (1) right to decent treatment vis-a-vis cruel & unusual punishment; (2) civil rights in prison; (3) access to court. The following remedies are considered: civil suits against officials; civil suits against federal, state & local gov's; the use of civil damage suits; the federal Civil Rights Act; Mandamus; Habeas Corpus; criminal actions against officials; contempt; & class actions. Questions of regulating the discretion of prison admin'ors are scrutinized, in particular punishment of prisoners for infractions of prison rules, classification of prisoners, degrees of custody, & transfers, & the function of judicial review. Non-judicial alternatives for resolving grievances are: prisoner access to private citizens & non-judicial gov agencies who can help them deal with their problems; public assoc's dedicated to prison reform, as in Sweden & Denmark, free legal counseling, & a "surveillance judge" (as in Italy), etc. It is concluded that After 2 cent's of simply sending convicted criminals to prison, some judges finally have begun to accept responsibility for what happens to convicts after they are sentenced. Only the most dangerous, hopeless criminals should be subjected to the complete control of prisons. The present prison system is anti-rehabilitative, inhumane, & capable only of aggravating the crime problem. M. Maxfield.