NCJ Number
147815
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: (Autumn 1993) Pages: 203-220
Date Published
1993
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Communicable disease screening in the prisoner population is discussed.
Abstract
This article explores the constitutional arguments that surround the issue of communicable disease screening and the operational difficulties that are a consequence of mandatory screening procedures. These arguments generally are based on Fourth Amendment privacy rights, Eighth Amendment guarantees of freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law. Also included is a discussion of the problems inherent in mandatory disease screening of the prisoner population. Prisoners, because of both preincarceration and confinement lifestyles and living conditions, are at greater risk for contracting communicable, often lethal, diseases than are nonincarcerated persons. Despite current knowledge about the numbers of inmates who are infected with HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases, legislators and correctional administrators have resisted making policy decisions mandating routine communicable disease screening of all inmates. Moreover, in the name of protection of inmate rights, several prisoner suits have been brought on both sides of this issue: some prisoners have challenged mandatory wholesale screening policies while others have challenged the absence of mandatory screening procedures. References