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Chapters
Chapters Overview
Chapter 1. Prison, Jail, and Prisoners’ Rights: An Introduction
Chapter 2. Conditions of Confinement
Chapter 3. Solitary Confinement
Chapter 4. Programming, Work, Reentry
Chapter 5. Sexual Abuse
Chapter 6. Freedom of Expression and Religion
Chapter 7. Access to the Courts
Chapter 8. Procedural Due Process
Chapter 9. Searches
Chapter 10. Race and National Origin Discrimination
Chapter 11. Women Prisoners
Chapter 12. LGBTQ Prisoners
Chapter 13. Disability
Chapter 14. Injunctive Litigation
Chapter 15. Damages: Causes of Action and Defenses
Chapter 16. The Litigation Process
Chapter 17. Private Prisons and Prison Contractors
Chapter 18. Criminal Prosecution of Prison/Jail Staff
Chapter 19. State Constitutional Law
Chapter 20. Accountability: Voting, Standards, and Oversight
Errata
Lived Experiences
Lived Experiences Overview
Lived Experiences — Part I: Conditions of Confinement
Lived Experiences — Part II: Civil Liberties
Lived Experiences — Part III: Particular Prisoner Populations
Lived Experiences — Part IV: Litigation & Remedies
Lived Experiences — Additional Topics
Resources
Featured Opinions
Statutes, Treaties, and Regulations
Featured, Cited, and Supplemental Litigation Documents
Excerpted Sources & Supplemental Documents
Additional Reading
Law Students & New Lawyers
Archived Resources
COVID-19
Prisoners’ Rights Webinars
For Teachers
Data Supplement
About the Authors
Home
Chapters
Chapters Overview
Chapter 1. Prison, Jail, and Prisoners’ Rights: An Introduction
Chapter 2. Conditions of Confinement
Chapter 3. Solitary Confinement
Chapter 4. Programming, Work, Reentry
Chapter 5. Sexual Abuse
Chapter 6. Freedom of Expression and Religion
Chapter 7. Access to the Courts
Chapter 8. Procedural Due Process
Chapter 9. Searches
Chapter 10. Race and National Origin Discrimination
Chapter 11. Women Prisoners
Chapter 12. LGBTQ Prisoners
Chapter 13. Disability
Chapter 14. Injunctive Litigation
Chapter 15. Damages: Causes of Action and Defenses
Chapter 16. The Litigation Process
Chapter 17. Private Prisons and Prison Contractors
Chapter 18. Criminal Prosecution of Prison/Jail Staff
Chapter 19. State Constitutional Law
Chapter 20. Accountability: Voting, Standards, and Oversight
Errata
Lived Experiences
Lived Experiences Overview
Lived Experiences — Part I: Conditions of Confinement
Lived Experiences — Part II: Civil Liberties
Lived Experiences — Part III: Particular Prisoner Populations
Lived Experiences — Part IV: Litigation & Remedies
Lived Experiences — Additional Topics
Resources
Featured Opinions
Statutes, Treaties, and Regulations
Featured, Cited, and Supplemental Litigation Documents
Excerpted Sources & Supplemental Documents
Additional Reading
Law Students & New Lawyers
Archived Resources
COVID-19
Prisoners’ Rights Webinars
For Teachers
Data Supplement
About the Authors
Incarceration and the Law
CASES AND MATERIALS
Suggestions
Stay Informed
Home
Chapters
Chapters Overview
Chapter 1. Prison, Jail, and Prisoners’ Rights: An Introduction
Chapter 2. Conditions of Confinement
Chapter 3. Solitary Confinement
Chapter 4. Programming, Work, Reentry
Chapter 5. Sexual Abuse
Chapter 6. Freedom of Expression and Religion
Chapter 7. Access to the Courts
Chapter 8. Procedural Due Process
Chapter 9. Searches
Chapter 10. Race and National Origin Discrimination
Chapter 11. Women Prisoners
Chapter 12. LGBTQ Prisoners
Chapter 13. Disability
Chapter 14. Injunctive Litigation
Chapter 15. Damages: Causes of Action and Defenses
Chapter 16. The Litigation Process
Chapter 17. Private Prisons and Prison Contractors
Chapter 18. Criminal Prosecution of Prison/Jail Staff
Chapter 19. State Constitutional Law
Chapter 20. Accountability: Voting, Standards, and Oversight
Errata
Lived Experiences
Lived Experiences Overview
Lived Experiences — Part I: Conditions of Confinement
Lived Experiences — Part II: Civil Liberties
Lived Experiences — Part III: Particular Prisoner Populations
Lived Experiences — Part IV: Litigation & Remedies
Lived Experiences — Additional Topics
Resources
Featured Opinions
Statutes, Treaties, and Regulations
Featured, Cited, and Supplemental Litigation Documents
Excerpted Sources & Supplemental Documents
Additional Reading
Law Students & New Lawyers
Archived Resources
COVID-19
Prisoners’ Rights Webinars
For Teachers
Data Supplement
About the Authors
Home
Chapters
Chapters Overview
Chapter 1. Prison, Jail, and Prisoners’ Rights: An Introduction
Chapter 2. Conditions of Confinement
Chapter 3. Solitary Confinement
Chapter 4. Programming, Work, Reentry
Chapter 5. Sexual Abuse
Chapter 6. Freedom of Expression and Religion
Chapter 7. Access to the Courts
Chapter 8. Procedural Due Process
Chapter 9. Searches
Chapter 10. Race and National Origin Discrimination
Chapter 11. Women Prisoners
Chapter 12. LGBTQ Prisoners
Chapter 13. Disability
Chapter 14. Injunctive Litigation
Chapter 15. Damages: Causes of Action and Defenses
Chapter 16. The Litigation Process
Chapter 17. Private Prisons and Prison Contractors
Chapter 18. Criminal Prosecution of Prison/Jail Staff
Chapter 19. State Constitutional Law
Chapter 20. Accountability: Voting, Standards, and Oversight
Errata
Lived Experiences
Lived Experiences Overview
Lived Experiences — Part I: Conditions of Confinement
Lived Experiences — Part II: Civil Liberties
Lived Experiences — Part III: Particular Prisoner Populations
Lived Experiences — Part IV: Litigation & Remedies
Lived Experiences — Additional Topics
Resources
Featured Opinions
Statutes, Treaties, and Regulations
Featured, Cited, and Supplemental Litigation Documents
Excerpted Sources & Supplemental Documents
Additional Reading
Law Students & New Lawyers
Archived Resources
COVID-19
Prisoners’ Rights Webinars
For Teachers
Data Supplement
About the Authors
Lived Experiences
Part I: Conditions of Confinement
© 2019. Oliger Merko. Evening Yard Crew.
Daily Life & Conditions
The Alabama Solution
[Documentary], HBO (2025)
Ain’t No Bitch
[on shared spaces and routines], Francis, Liberation Live Zine Vol. 1 Issue 1 (2025)
Locked Out: Dowell’s Targeted Abuse at FCI Petersburg
, John Stuart Dowell & Farha Fawaz, Remedy Project (Apr. 11, 2025)
After Exposing a Lack of Addiction Treatment, I Was Transferred to One of the Country’s Deadliest Prisons
, Askia Afrika-Ber, Prison Journalism Project (Mar. 6, 2025)
What Extreme Cold Feels Like in Prison
, Prison Journalism Project (Feb. 25, 2025)
For a Prison Transfer 45 Minutes Away, I Spent 12 Days in Hell
, LaMarr W. Knox, The Marshall Project (Dec. 13, 2024)
What It Was Like When Hurricane Helene Hit Our Prison
, K.C. Johnson, Prison Journalism Project (Dec. 4, 2024)
Treated Like Animals: A System That Denies Humanity
, David Annarelli, Prison Journalism Project (Nov. 21, 2024)
Life Inside, Remixed: Inside the Underground Economy of Solitary Confinement
, Matthew Azzano, Akiba Solomon & Raghuram Vadarevu, The Marshall Project (Oct. 25, 2024)
Summer Heat in Prison: Just How Hot Are Our Nation’s Prisons?
, Prison Journalism Project (Sept. 19, 2024)
“Sick and Tired”: The Case of the Continuous Silencing of Lawrence James Espree
, Indy Goldberg, Remedy Project (Sept. 16, 2024)
What a Day in Prison is Really Like
, David Sell, Vera (Mar. 14, 2024)
My Biggest Daily Challenge in Prison Isn’t Violence. It’s the Monotony
, Jy’Aire Smith-Pennick, The Marshall Project (Feb. 9, 2024)
My Daily Prison Routine
,
Chad Weinstein, Prison Journalism Project (Dec. 10, 2023)
The Daily Schedule That Helps Me Survive Prison
, Jared Kirby, Prison Journalism Project (Sept. 5, 2023)
This is What It’s Like to Spend Your Life In Prison
[Video], The New York Times (Aug. 1, 2023)
The Patterns, Routines, and Pervasive Fear of Daily Life in Prison
, Keith Corbin, California Soul (Penguin Random House, 2022)
The Art of Bidding, or How I Survived Federal Prison
, Eric Borsuk, The Marshall Project (Sept. 22, 2022)
One of the Most Precious Commodities in Prison [on kites]
, Leo Cardez, Prison Journalism Project (Sept. 1, 2022)
Episode 45: The Gray Goose (Vans & Buses for Transfers)
, Ear Hustle (Sept. 9, 2020)
Episode 39: Us and Them
[on guard dynamics], Ear Hustle (Apr. 1, 2020)
A Day in the Life of a Prisoner
, Jerry Metcalf, The Marshall Project (Jul. 12, 2018)
A Modernized Dungeon
, Jesse “Kingsta” Moody Jr., American Prison Writing Archive (Dec. 28, 2017)
My Prison Cell: A Place Kept Compulsively Clean
, Ramon Delgado, The New Yorker (Dec. 30, 2016)
Food
The Big Business of Bad Prison Food
, Beth Schwartzapfel, The Marshall Project (Mar. 8, 2025)
I Lost 50 Pounds Due to Menu Changes at My Prison
, Scott Smith, Prison Journalism Project (Jul. 29, 2024)
A Prison Medical Company Faced Lawsuits From Incarcerated People. Then It Went ‘Bankrupt.’
, Beth Schwartzapfel, The Marshall Project (Sept. 19, 2023)
Meet the Company Getting Rich Off My Prison’s Awful Food
, Justin Slavinski, Prison Journalism Project (Sept. 10, 2023)
What’s in a Prison Meal?
, Alysia Santo et al., The Marshall Project (Jul. 7, 2015)
Family
Discontinued Families (On Visitation)
, Justin, Liberation Live Zine Vol. 1 Issue 1 (2025)
Episode 84: Karen
[on pregnancy and birth in custody], Ear Hustle (Dec. 14, 2025)
Should Incarceration Deprive Me of Having Another Child?
, Erica Harris, Prison Journalism Project (Jan. 16, 2025)
Motherhood Made Me Even More of a Prison and Police Abolitionist
, Maya Schenwar, The Marshall Project (Jan. 10, 2025)
The Effects of Parental Incarceration on Families
[Video], Erik Cabrera-Zamora, TEDxAustinCollege (Nov. 22, 2024)
The Power of a Prison Visit
, Ryan Douglas, Prison Journalism Project (Sept. 18, 2024)
Episode 105: Moms
, Ear Hustle (May 1, 2024)
Intimacy/Friendship
I Went to Prison and Found Support and Community
, P.G. Sittenfeld, N.Y. Times (Feb. 22, 2026)
Why Conjugal Visits Matter
, David Hugh, Liberation Live Zine Vol. 1 Issue 1 (2025)
6 Stories on Love and Intimacy in Prison
, Prison Journalism Project (Feb. 14, 2024)
Episode 6: The Boom Boom Room
, Maverick & Greg Eskridge, Ear Hustle (Aug. 30, 2017)
Work
Alabama Voters Banned Prison Slavery — But Prisoners Say It Hasn’t Stopped
, Shaun Traywick, truthout (Jun. 19, 2025)
Incarcerated Firefighters Do Risky, Low-Pay Work. Many Say It’s The Best Job Behind Bars.
, Jamiles Lartey and Shannon Heffernan, The Marshall Project, and Keri Blakinger, The Los Angeles Times (Jan. 11, 2025)
I Had a Tough Job at My Brooklyn Jail: Keeping Men From Taking Their Own Lives
, Rashon Venable, The Marshall Project (Apr. 12, 2024)
The Daily Schedule That Helps Me Survive Prison
, Jared Kirby, Prison Journalism Project (Sept. 5, 2023)
In California Prisons, Forced Labor Lives On
, Steve Brooks, Prison Journalism Project (Aug. 5, 2022)
Jail Inmates Worked for a $16 Billion Company Without Pay. Now They Want Their Wages.
, Madison Pauly, Mother Jones: Criminal Justice (Jan. 6, 2020)
Fields of Blood: My Life As a Prison Laborer
, Timothy D.V. Bazrowx, The Marshall Project (Jan. 24, 2019)
Confessions of an Inmate Firefighter
, Joshua Daniel Bligh, International Association of Wildland Fire (Feb. 2016)
Recreation
6 Stories on Sports in Prison
, Prison Journalism Project (Apr. 24, 2024)
This Game Captured Minds in Prison. Then It Disappeared
.
, Daniel K. Talburt, Prison Journalism Project (Mar. 31, 2024)
Education & Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation Through the Arts
[Video]
How I Became a Scholar Behind Bars
, Ramelle Kamack, Prison Journalism Project (Mar. 5, 2024)
‘The Sky’s the Limit’ for Mule Creek Students Celebrating Graduation
, Earl Breckenridge, Prison Journalism Project (Mar. 5, 2024)
In My Prison, We Pay for College on 70 Cents a Day
, Caddell Kivett, Prison Journalism Project (Mar. 5, 2024)
Ashland University Is Good for Some — and Frustrating for Others
, James Hone, Prison Journalism Project (Mar. 5, 2024)
Ohio Prison System Bans Java Computer Manual, But Allows Hitler’s Mein Kampf
, The Marshall Project (Jun. 20, 2023)
Abuse survivor becomes rehabilitation activist, transforms lives through HEART program
, Cherie McNaulty & Edwin Chavez, San Quentin News (Oct. 5, 2022)
I Hate to Admit It, but Prison Is a Blessing in Disguise
, Jy’Aire Smith-Pennick, The Marshall Project (Jun. 10, 2021)
Literature Locked Up: How Prison Book Restriction Policies Constitute the Nation’s Largest Book Ban
, Pen America (Sept. 2019)
I Taught Myself How to Read in Prison. Then I Sued the System and Won
, Andre Jacobs, The Marshall Project (May 24, 2019)
Benny Rios,
Reflection on Prison Law Classes
(2019)
Solitary Confinement
Living in the SHU
[Video], C.F. Villa(Oct. 2, 2025)
“Designed to Break You:” Two Incarcerated Writers on the Heavy Toll of Solitary Confinement,
Christopher Blackwell & Kwaneta Harris, Bolts: Ending Isolation (Sept. 19, 2025)
Twelve Months of Solitude: The Story of Gabrial Lobato
, Gabrial Lobato & Henry Knies, Remedy Project (Apr. 8, 2025)
The Strike That Broke a Supermax Prison
, Reveal News (Mar. 29, 2025)
Life Inside, Remixed: Inside the Underground Economy of Solitary Confinement
, Matthew Azzano, Akiba Solomon & Raghuram Vadarevu, The Marshall Project (Oct. 25, 2024)
Justice for Kelvin Mejia,
Amari Rasin, Remedy Project (Oct. 23, 2024)
Denied Humanity: The BOP’s Violent Abuse of Richard Cunningham
, Richard Cunningham & Zara Williamson, Remedy Project (Oct. 10, 2023)
Amy’s Story: Covid Quarantine or Extra Punishment?
, Amy Campbell & Leah Robins, Remedy Project (Feb. 1, 2023)
Jailhouse Lawyers Are Often Punished With Solitary Confinement
, Roxanne Barnes, Solitary Watch (Dec. 22, 2021)
America has a Dark Little Secret – ADX
, Salvador Solorio, San Quentin News (Nov. 14, 2019)
I Spent 16 Months in Solitary Confinement and Now I’m Fighting
to End It
, Kiana Calloway, ACLU (Jul. 3, 2019)
Episode 4: The SHU
, Ear Hustle (Jul. 26, 2017)
“I Never Will Abandon This Hope”: Testimony of a Pelican Bay Hunger Striker on
Soli
tary Confinement
,
Bryan & Sal Rodriguez, Solitary Watch (Sept. 9, 2011)
Solitary Confinement: My Typical Day as a Teenager in the Box on Riker’s Island
, John Katehis, American Prison Writing Archive
Silenced: Voices from Inside
, Compilation
Unlock the Box
: Experience
Voices From Solitary
, Solitary Watch
Emotional Abuse
Neglect and Narcotics: Elain’s Struggle for Safety
, Nicole Li, Remedy Project (Dec. 20, 2024)
Treated Like Animals: A System That Denies Humanity
, David Annarelli, Prison Journalism Project (Nov. 21, 2024)
The Patterns, Routines, and Pervasive Fear of Daily Life in Prison
, Keith Corbin, California Soul (Penguin Random House, 2022)
Sexual Abuse
Institutionalized Sexual Abuse and the Fight for Dignity at FCI Texarkana
, Evie, Remedy Project (Apr. 15, 2025)
A Prison Rape Survivor Demands Smart, Safe and Humane Transfers
, Johanna Mills, The Marshall Project (Nov. 24, 2024)
Where Rape Goes Unnoticed
, Maurice Chammah, The Marshall Project (Apr. 3, 2015)
Pulling the Teeth from the Prison Rape Elimination Act
, Alysia Santo, The Marshall Project (Dec. 2, 2014)
Panel on Prison Rape Hears Victims’ Chilling Accounts
, Carolyn Marshall, The New York Times (Aug. 20, 2005)
No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons
, Human Rights Watch (2001)
All Too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S. State Prisons
, Human Rights Watch (1996)
Physical Abuse & Use of Force
The Alabama Solution
[Documentary], HBO (2025)
Neglect and Narcotics
: Elain’s Struggle for Safety
, Nicole Li, Remedy Project (Dec. 20, 2024)
Echoes of Retaliation: The Price of Speaking Out
, Michael Campbell et al., Remedy Project (Dec. 13, 2024)
Justice for Kelvin Mejia
,
Amari Rasin,
Remedy Project (Oct. 23, 2024)
Fueling A Fire They Started: USP Coleman’s Assault on Oswaldo Bonilla
, Nathan Dinoia & Shayna Silberzweig, Remedy Project (Jul. 8, 2024)
Denied Humanity: The BOP’s Violent Abuse of Richard Cunningham
, Richard Cunningham & Zara Williamson, Remedy Project (Oct. 10, 2023)
Uncovering Brutality Behind Bars: The Ian Resnick Crisis
, Remedy Project (Jun. 2, 2023
Judge Orders CA Prison Guards to Wear Cameras
, Kevin Sawyer, San Quentin News (Dec. 31, 2020)
America has a Dark Little Secret – ADX
, Salvador Solorio, San Quentin News (Nov. 14, 2019)
Attica’s Ghosts
, The Marshall Project (Feb. 28, 2019)
Medical Care
Episode 84: Karen
[on pregnancy and birth in custody], Ear Hustle (Dec. 14, 2025)
He Can’t Chew, Sleep, or Heal. The Prison Doesn’t Care.
, Quincy McGraw, Remedy Project (Apr. 9, 2025)
After Exposing a Lack of Addiction Treatment, I Was Transferred to One of the Country’s Deadliest Prisons
, Askia Afrika-Ber, Prison Journalism Project (Mar. 6, 2025)
Denied Care, Denied Dignity
: A Story at FCI Aliceville
, Nicole Li, Remedy Project (Feb. 19, 2025)
Neglect and Narcotics
:
Elain’s Struggle for Safety, Nicole Li, Remedy Project (Dec. 20, 2024)
Why Did My Old Prison Have 18 Drug Overdoses in Two Months?
, David Annarelli, Prison Journalism Project (Nov. 21, 2024)
A Man in My Prison Said He Killed Himself to End His Chronic Pain
, Tuan Tran & L.E.T. Jr., Prison Journalism Project (Oct. 28, 2024)
The Nine Lives of Walter Deckert
, David “Razor” Babb, Prison Journalism Project (Sept. 5, 2024)
Fueling A Fire They Started
:
USP Coleman’s Assault on Oswaldo Bonilla
, Nathan Dinoia & Shayna Silberzweig, Remedy Project (Jul. 8, 2024)
In This Missouri Prison, Profit Means More Than a Person’s Life
, Antwann Lamont Johnson, Prison Journalism Project (Feb. 20, 2024)
Prison Healthcare Means Not Knowing What’s Slowly Destroying My Body
, James Keown, The Marshall Project (Aug. 18, 2023)
I Survived Pregnancy and Postpartum Depression in Jail. Now I Guide Others Like Me.
, Tabatha Trammell & Nicole Lewis, The Marshall Project (Jun. 30, 2023)
“I Fear That I Will Die in my Sleep”
: The BOP’s Failure to Provide Basic Healthcare, Robert Roseberry & Benjy Sachs, Remedy Project (Jun. 7, 2023)
Corita, Sentenced to Years of Sleep Deprivation and Medical Neglect
, Corita Burnett & Benjy Sachs, Remedy Project (Mar. 30, 2023)
Episode 55: Marcel and Angie
[on gender-affirming healthcare], Ear Hustle (Mar. 31, 2021)
Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor
, Shawanna Nelson & Adam Liptak, The New York Times (Mar. 2, 2006)
Profit & Private Corporations
The Big Business of Bad Prison Food
, Beth Schwartzapfel, The Marshall Project (Mar. 8, 2025)
In This Missouri Prison, Profit Means More Than a Person’s Life
, Antwann Lamont Johnson, Prison Journalism Project (Feb. 20, 2024)
Meet the Company Getting Rich Off My Prison’s Awful Food
, Justin Slavinski, Prison Journalism Project (Sept. 10, 2023)
In California Prisons, Forced Labor Lives On
, Steve Brooks, Prison Journalism Project (Aug. 5, 2022)
Jail Inmates Worked for a $16 Billion Company Without Pay. Now They Want Their Wages.
, Madison Pauly, Mother Jones: Criminal Justice (Jan. 6, 2020)
The Big Business of Prisoner Care Packages
, Taylor Elizabeth Eldridge, The Marshall Project (Dec. 21, 2017)
Mental Health
A Man in My Prison Said He Killed Himself to End His Chronic Pain
, Tuan Tran & L.E.T. Jr., Prison Journalism Project (Oct. 28, 2024)
I Had a Tough Job at My Brooklyn Jail: Keeping Men From Taking Their Own Lives
, Rashon Venable, The Marshall Project (Apr. 12, 2024)
Denied Humanity: The BOP’s Violent Abuse of Richard Cunningham
, Richard Cunningham & Zara Williamson, Remedy Project (Oct. 10, 2023)
Aging
A Matter of Life: The Scope and Impact of Life and Long Term Imprisonment in the United States
, Ashley Nellis & Celeste Barry, The Sentencing Project (Jan. 8, 2025)
The Nine Lives of Walter Deckert
, David “Razor” Babb, Prison Journalism Project (Sept. 5, 2024)
The Graying of America’s Prisons
, Prison Journalism Project (Jan. 10, 2023)
Behind Bars for 66 Years
, John Phillips & Joseph Neff, The Marshall Project (May 23, 2019)
Episode 9: Gold Coats and OGs
[on aging in custody], Lonnie Morris, Richard Lathan & Andres Eric Watson, Ear Hustle (Oct. 11, 2017)
COVID
Amy’s Story: Covid Quarantine or Extra Punishment?
, Amy Campbell & Leah Robins, Remedy Project (Feb. 1, 2023)
Prison Pandemic
, Digital Archive of Covid-19 Experiences, University of California, Irvine
Additional Lived Experiences Categories
Additional Lived Experience Categories
Additional Lived Experience Categories