Prison Litigation

Prison Litigation Reform Act

Prison Litigation and its Effects

Since the 1960s, U.S. prisoners have filed thousands of lawsuits in state and federal courts. While some prisoners seek their freedom through the filing of habeas corpus petitions, many others file civil lawsuits seeking damages for alleged injuries or for improvements in prison conditions. Until the mid-1990s, prisoners had little difficulty in filing such actions. However, this changed dramatically when Congress passed the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act of 1996 (PLRA).

Congress sought to restrict prisoner litigation by enacting a series of provisions which touch on several troubling areas. One provision limits the ability of federal courts to consider lawsuits challenging prison conditions. Another provision requires a federal district court to conduct a preliminary review of prisoner lawsuits and dismiss those deemed frivolous. In addition, Congress mandated that prisoners pay court filing fees when they initiate a civil lawsuit. Congress believed that prisoners would file fewer lawsuits if they had to pay filing fees themselves(Coyle, 1996).

The most popular vehicle for prisoner lawsuits has been a federal civil rights statute, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983. A “1983 action” permits a prisoner to sue in federal court for an alleged deprivation of a federally protected or constitutional right by a person acting under the authority of state law. The person sued by the prisoner can be the warden or supervisor, a guard, or the local government that owns and runs the prison.

The Prison Act defines in some detail the Home Secretary's comprehensive responsibilities for prisons:

To create new prisons; to rebuild, enlarge and refurbish existing prisons; to designate buildings or parts of buildings as prisons; to acquire and own land and property for those purposes; and to close prisons (ss. 33 and 35-37).

The 'general superintendence of prisons' and, either directly or by contract, to provide for the maintenance of prisons and prisoners (s. 4); and to report on every prison annually and to lay that report before Parliament (s. 5).

To appoint officers and staff to run prisons (s. 3) and members of each prison's independent monitoring board (s. 6).

To direct in which prisons prisoners shall be held - and to transfer prisoners from one prison to another (s. 12) - and temporarily and conditionally to discharge prisoners due to ill-health (s. 28).

To provide special cells for the temporary confinement of violent or refractory prisoners and to satisfy himself that each prison has sufficient accommodation for prisoners and for ...