NCJ Number
106365
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 49 Issue: 5 Dated: (August 1987) Pages: 160,162,164,166-168
Date Published
1987
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Court intervention in prison conditions that do not directly affect inmate safety and health is generally counterproductive and not cost effective.
Abstract
During the short course of court intervention in prisons, needed reforms have upgraded prison conditions that affect inmate safety and health. There have also been excesses. The new court openness to prisoner suits and readiness to intrude deeply into prison operations has created problems of volume and substance. The courts should move away from the 'totality of conditions' rationale that has been the basis for unlimited judicial intrusion and protracted, costly litigation. The courts' involvement in the details of prison operations through the appointment of special masters to negotiate with prison administrators and monitor change has been costly and without signficant benefit in matters unrelated to inmate health and safety. Special masters' long-term supervision of prison change has also tended to undermine the authority of prison administrators and staff, as the inmates sense that the real power running the prisons is the court through the special master. It is time for the courts to back off from their involvement in the details of prison administration and reform. Contemporary prison administrators are sufficiently informed about court mandates for prison reform and adequately skilled and knowledgeable to devise and implement the reforms appropriate for the prisons they manage. Administrative procedures should be exhausted before inmates are permitted to access the courts, and major resource allocations should be the prerogative of the State legislature rather than the courts.