NCJ Number
131714
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Dated: (1990) Pages: 545-581
Date Published
1990
Length
37 pages
Annotation
The standard that the United States Supreme Court set forth in 1987 should be clarified so that it will appropriately define prisoners' rights to the free exercise of religion.
Abstract
In Turner v. Safley, the Court set forth a general standard and four specific criteria for use in balancing the constitutional rights of prisoners and the interests of society in running effective prison systems. The Court asserted that a regulation impinging on inmates' constitutional rights is valid if it is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests. When applying this standard and the specific criteria, courts face difficulties in determining the level of deference due to prison officials, the scope of the right to exercise religion, and the relative weights of the four factors. To address these problems, the Court should continue to apply the Turner standard and should tighten its criteria in several ways. Footnotes