Incarceration and the Law

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Chapter 19

State Constitutional Law

The seven justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio seated at the bench during an oral argument, with an attorney standing at the lectern addressing the court, in the ornate wood-paneled courtroom of the Moyer Judicial Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Chapter Overview

This chapter explores theory and case law addressing the potential additional protection that state constitutional law might provide to incarcerated people challenging their conditions of confinement. It explores both statutory and case law within the topic-specific chapters and examines the prospects of more-prisoner protective state constitutional law.

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Additional Reading

Bonnie Tenneriello

Bonnie Tenneriello is Solitary Confinement Project Director and a Senior Attorney with Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts. Much of her litigation has focused on solitary confinement, including the pending case Evelyn v. DOC, which challenges the Massachusetts DOC’s evasion of solitary confinement reform.  She has also written on this topic for the Boston Review.  Recent litigation also includes Doe v. Mici, which challenges the use of prisons to house people civilly committed for substance use disorder.  She serves on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.