NCJ Number
137227
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 82 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1992) Pages: 979-999
Date Published
1992
Length
21 pages
Annotation
In Wilson v. Seiter, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a defendant charging cruel and unusual punishment as a result of his prison conditions must prove a culpable state of mind on the part of prison officials. The Court maintained that deliberate indifference is the appropriate mental standard to apply to eighth amendment cases.
Abstract
This ruling is unwarranted by previous cases, particularly as it requires the courts to distinguish between the imprisonment sentence and the actual imprisonment. Requiring additional proof of subjective intent will allow prison officials to develop an economic defense to alleged eighth amendment violations and will mean that inadequate prison conditions will go unanswered. The majority opinion lends little guidance to lower courts in terms of whose subjective intent is at stake. The author also argues that the Court incorrectly relied upon past cases that did not involve prison conditions, but rather expanded the common sense definition of "conditions" to include specific acts or omissions directed at individual prisoners. 161 notes