U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Sexual Abuse and Civil Rights: The Impact of the PLRA Physical Injury Requirement

NCJ Number
185709
Journal
National Prison Project Journal Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Dated: Fall 1998 & Winter 1999 Pages: 1-5
Author(s)
Giovanna Shay
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