Your textbook identifies 21 prison conditions that federal courts have found to be in violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments. List 10 of them.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers can include any of the following:

Inadequate ventilation
Excessive heat
Excessive cold
Lack of drinkable water (also lack of cold water where prison yard temperatures reached 100 degrees)
Toxic or noxious fumes (pesticides sprayed into housing units; inadequate ventilation of toxic fumes in inmate workplaces)
Exposure to sewage (exposure to flooding and human waste)
Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke (cell mates smoking five packs of cigarettes a day)
Excessive noise
Sleep deprivation
Sleeping on the floor (failure to provide inmates with a mattress and bed or bunk)
Lack of fire safety
Risk of injury or death in the event of an earthquake
Inadequate food or unsanitary food service
Inadequate lighting or constant lighting
Exposure to insects, rodents, and other vermin
Defective plumbing
Deprivation of basic sanitation
Denial of adequate toilet facilities
Exposure to asbestos (Exposure to "moderate levels of asbestos" did not violate the Eighth Amendment.)
Exposure to the extreme behavior of severely mentally ill prisoners (exposure to constant screaming and feces-smearing of mentally ill prisoners "contributes to the problems of uncleanliness and sleep deprivation, and by extension mental health problems, for other inmates")
Miscellaneous unhealthy or dangerous conditions (unsafe conditions for prisoners performing electrical work; prisoner injured in vehicle accident after transport officers refused to fasten his seat belt)