Khaled Elsharkawy
Harrall, (1988)
starting in the mid-1960s a
number of oppressed minorities’ litigation before the Federal courts for the rights
granted to them under the U.S. Constitution. One of these groups was prisoners
in all prisons scattered across the states and counties institutions. Through a series of cases based on Section 1983 of the
United States Code and the Fourteenth Amendment, these prisoners have
successfully brought cases involving First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth
Amendment issues.
Most of the gains of their First Amendment rights (speech - religion) and
Fourth Amendment (search, privacy) are severely restricted (Waguespack, 2001).
Continued to claim freedom of religion in prisons during the 19th century
and until the 20th century where prisons began in the development of grant
prisoners the freedom to practice their religion, including the chapels inside
the prisons in their design. The volunteers were allowed clergy to preach
prisoners with limited exceptions (Thomas, & Zaitzow, 2006). In Fulwood v.
Clemmer (1962) the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia ruled that
Black Muslims have the same right to practice their religion and hold worship
services as do inmates of other faiths. In WoIJf v. McDonnel (1974) established
the protections extend to the practice of religion in prison. As with other
prisoners’ rights, security and punitive interests may trump the Constitution.
Many studies have found there is evidence that participating in prison
religious programs significantly reduces recidivism (Thomas, & Zaitzow,
2006).
The Eighth
Amendment prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments
(Reed, 2004). In Solem v. Helm, (1983) was within the scope of the protection afforded by Eighth
Amendment of cruel and unusual
punishments. In this case the court has approved the principle that punishment must
be proportionate to the crime for which the defendant has been convicted (Reed,
2004). Ewing v. California, (2003) ruled that the three strikes laws serve the goal of deterring legislator and incapacitating
repeat offenders and do not violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits the imposition of
the sentence that is disproportionate to significantly with the severity of the crime (Peck, 2004).
in Bragdon v. Abbott (1998) the U.S. Supreme Court's ruled
that individuals with HIV infection are entitled to the protections of
antidiscrimination law, and that health care providers must respond to a
patient's infection based on reason and science, not fear and prejudice for
individuals with HIV, and for those with other disabilities (Parmet, 2001). In Sullivan
v. County of Pierce, (2000) the 9 Circuit Court ruled that medical
providers had shown deliberate indifference when they refused to provide a
protease inhibitor and ignoring prisoner's HIV medications is unconstitutional
(Carles, 2012). In recent years decreased
incidence of HIV among
prisoners from 2.2%
in 1998 to 1.9% at
the end of 2002. The number of State and Federal
prison inmates known to have AIDs decreased from 5754 in 2001
to 5643 in 2002 (Maruschak,
2004).
