NCJ Number
185709
Journal
National Prison Project Journal Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Dated: Fall 1998 & Winter 1999 Pages: 1-5
Date Published
1999
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article investigates whether incarcerated women have viable civil rights lawsuits for sexual abuse by male prisoners or prison personnel.
Abstract
Regardless of the substantive law governing their claims, the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) of 1996 threatens the ability of sexually abused female prisoners to seek relief in federal court. Specifically, a provision of the PLRA bars recovery in federal civil rights actions by prisoners who cannot demonstrate a physical injury. Perceiving that this prohibits relief even for psychological torture, prisoners' advocates have attempted to challenge the provision on constitutional grounds. However, both the Seventh and D.C. Circuits have upheld the provision against constitutional challenges. A judge on the Ninth Circuit court has given prisoners and their advocates some hope by his ruling that the provision had violated a prisoner's rights under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, the PLRA provision does not apply to First Amendment Claims regardless of the form of relief sought. Similarly, sexual abuse plaintiffs may argue that they claim violations of their Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Notes