Prison Management and Prison Discipline - Case Study of Change (From Accountability and Prisons, P 204-216, 1986, Mike Maguire et al, eds. See NCJ-100462)

• NCJ Number: 100473
• Author(s): P M Quinn
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: Methuen, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

British court rulings mandating the option of legal counsel for inmates at disciplinary hearings before the Board of Visitors present a case study of prison management's and staff's reactions to change.

Abstract

The court held in ''Tarrant' (1984) that, whereas an inmate had no right to assistance or representation at a disciplinary adjudication, the Board of Visitors (an independent body authorized to hear serious discipline cases) has discretion to allow legal representation. Although this ruling had been foreseeable for a number of years, prison management and staff perceived it as sudden change that seriously threatened order and predictability in prison management. Prison personnel perceived that any advances in prisoner rights threatened the ability of prison personnel to maintain prison order. The Prison Officers' Association has speculated that legal representation would be granted to every inmate requesting it and that prison staff would attempt to divert inmates to alternative grievance procedures that would not offer the option of an attorney. The primary deleterious effect of the court ruling has been the delays in disciplinary adjudication occasioned by logistical problems of legal representation. 2 notes.