NCJ Number
165412
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 21 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1996) Pages: 1-3
Date Published
1996
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The Prison Litigation Reform Act enacted in April 1996 is analyzed with respect to its origins and possible future.
Abstract
The law restricts inmate lawsuits and places time limits on relief granted to inmates by the courts. Its provisions effectively limit prospective relief such as consent decrees to 2 years' duration unless the court makes written findings within a deadline that the relief remains necessary to correct the unconstitutional conditions. The legislation also requires inmates to exhaust all available administrative remedies before bringing a lawsuit on prison conditions and eliminates the requirement that administrative grievance systems be certified by a court or the United States Attorney General. Certain provisions are designed to discourage filers considered abusive from bringing lawsuits against corrections officials. The law reflects the efforts of people from jurisdictions that have had problems with consent decrees or frivolous lawsuits. However, some attorneys and Federal judges have objected to the law. Prisoners' rights organizations have vowed to challenge the law, which will probably be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court. The conservative majority on the Court has generally supported Federalism and guarantees of powers to the States, but it has also been reluctant to reverse decisions of Federal circuit courts. Nevertheless, the Court has generally been inclined to give States improved power in the management of their prisons. Reference notes