What led to reforms in prisons that expanded the scope of prisoner's rights? What strategies were used to achieve this expansion of rights? What caused this movement to then slow down?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The 1960s saw the rise of awareness in prisoner rights, in some ways reflecting the spirit of the times and similar movements for civil rights, student rights, public welfare, and juvenile court systems. At this time, federal district courts began seriously considering prisoners' claims about conditions in the various state and federal institutions and used their power to intervene on behalf of the inmates. Activist groups like the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU's National Prison Project began to search for appropriate legal vehicles to bring prisoners' complaints before state and federal courts. The most widely used device was the federal Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 1983. This made the legal argument that as US citizens, prison inmates could sue state officials if their civil rights were violated. The prisoners' rights movement stretched from 1964 to 1980, using state and federal courts as a forum for demanding better living conditions and personal rights. Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform Act in 1996 to slow down prison litigation, which had been clogging federal courts. The act required prisoners to exhaust all internal administrative grievance procedures before filing a civil rights case. It also bars litigation if a prisoner has not suffered a physical injury in addition to a violation of their constitutional rights. Another limitation that act put in place was that if a judge decides a claim is not proper, they count it as a "strike." After three strikes, another lawsuit cannot be filed unless the inmate pays the entire court filing fee up front. The case Booth v. Churner and Porter v. Nussle upheld provisions of this act.