Incarceration and the Law

Cases and Materials

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Chapter 1. Prison, Jail, and Prisoners' Rights: An Introduction

Ruffin v. Commonwealth, 62 Va. 790 (1871)
Cooper v. Pate, 378 U.S. 546 (1964) (per curiam)
Cooper v. Pate, 324 F.2d 165 (7th Cir. 1963)

PART I: CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT

Chapter 2. Conditions of Confinement

Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
Castro v. County of Los Angeles, 833 F.3d 1060 (9th Cir. 2016) (en banc)
Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976)
Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994)
Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25 (1993)
Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730 (2002)
Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1 (1992)
Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
Jackson v. Bishop, 404 F.2d 571 (8th Cir. 1968)
Kingsley v. Hendrickson, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S.Ct. 2466 (2015)
Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337 (1981)
Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312 (1986)
Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294 (1991)
Wilson v. Williams, 961 F.3d 829 (6th Cir. 2020) (in the 2022 supplement)

Chapter 3. Solitary Confinement

Davis v. Ayala, 576 U.S. ___, 135 S.Ct. 2187 (2015)
In re Medley, 134 U.S. 160 (1890)
Porter v. Clarke, 923 F.3d 348 (4th Cir. 2019), as amended

Chapter 4. Programming, Work, and Reentry

Laaman v. Helgemoe, 437 F.Supp. 269 (D. N.H. 1977)
Vanskike v. Peters, 974 F.2d 806 (7th Cir. 1992)

Chapter 5. Sexual Abuse

Crawford v. Cuomo, 796 F.3d 252 (2d Cir. 2015)
Graham v. Sheriff of Logan County, 741 F.3d 1118 (10th Cir. 2013)
Jacoby v. PREA Coordinator, No. 5:17-cv-00053-MHH-TMP, 2017 WL 2962858 (N.D. Ala. Apr. 4, 2017), Report and recommendation adopted, 2017 WL 2957825 (N.D. Ala. July 11, 2017)
Johnson v. Phelan, 69 F.3d 144 (7th Cir. 1995)
Jordan v. Gardner, 986 F.2d 1521 (9th Cir. 1993) (en banc)

PART II: CIVIL LIBERTIES

Chapter 6. Freedom of Expression and Religion

Beard v. Banks, 548 U.S. 521 (2006)
Holt v. Hobbs, 574 U.S. 352 (2015)
Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners’ Labor Union, Inc., 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
O’Lone v. Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342 (1987)
Overton v. Bazzetta, 539 U.S. 126 (2003)
Prison Legal News v. Cook, 238 F.3d 1145 (9th Cir. 2001)
Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
Singer v. Raemisch, 593 F.3d 529 (7th Cir. 2010)
Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989)

Chapter 7. Access to the Courts

Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
Ex parte Hull, 312 U.S. 546 (1941)
Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343 (1996) (excerpted in Chapter 14)
Johnson v. Avery, 393 U.S. 483 (1969)
Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396 (1974)

Chapter 8. Procedural Due Process

Meachum v. Fano, 427 U.S. 215 (1976)
Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
Olim v. Wakinekona, 461 U.S. 238 (1983)
Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472 (1995)
Superintendent, Mass. Correctional Institution at Walpole v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445 (1985)
Vitek v. Jones, 445 U.S. 480 (1980)
Wilkinson v. Austin, 545 U.S. 209 (2005)
Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974)

Chapter 9. Searches

Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, 566 U.S. 318 (2012)
Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517 (1984)
Swain v. Spinney, 117 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 1997)

PART III: PARTICULAR PRISONER POPULATIONS

Chapter 10. Race and National Origin Discrimination

Johnson v. California, 543 U.S. 499 (2005)
Lee v. Washington, 390 U.S. 333 (1968)
Richardson v. Runnels, 594 F.3d 666 (9th Cir. 2010)
Washington v. Lee, 263 F.Supp. 327 (M.D. Ala. 1966)

Chapter 11. Women Prisoners

Nelson v. Correctional Medical Services, 583 F.3d 522 (8th Cir. 2009)
Roe v. Crawford, 514 F.3d 789 (8th Cir. 2008)
Southerland v. Thigpen, 784 F.2d 713 (5th Cir. 1986)
Women Prisoners of D.C. Dept. of Corrections v. District of Columbia, 93 F. 3d 910 (D.C. Cir. 1996)

Chapter 12. LGBTQ Prisoners

Davis v. Prison Health Service, 679 F.3d 433 (6th Cir. 2012)
Edmo v. Corizon, Inc., 935 F.3d 757 (9th Cir. 2019)
Hampton v. Baldwin, No. 3:18-cv-550-NJR-RJD, 2018 WL 5830730 (S.D. Ill. 2018)
Johnson v. Johnson, 385 F.3d 503 (5th Cir. 2004)
Monroe v. Baldwin, 424 F.Supp.3d 526 (S.D. Ill. Dec. 19, 2019)

Chapter 13. Disability

Andrews v. Rauner, No. 3:18-cv-1101, 2018 WL 3748401 (C.D. Ill. Aug. 6, 2018)
McBride v. Michigan Department of Corrections, 294 F.Supp.3d 695 (E.D. Mich. 2018)
United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151 (2006)

PART IV: LITIGATION AND REMEDIES

Chapter 14. Injunctive Litigation

Badgley v. Santacroce, 800 F.2d 33 (2d Cir. 1986)
Brown v. Plata, 563 U.S. 493 (2011)
Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
Miller v. French, 530 U.S. 327 (2000)
Valentine v. Collier, 140 S.Ct. 1598 (2020) (in 2022 Supplement)

Chapter 15. Damages: Causes of Action and Defenses

Cohen v. United States, 151 F.3d 1338 (11th Cir. 1998)
Corrections Services Corp. v. Malesko, 534 U.S. 61 (2001)
Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730 (2002)
United States v. Muniz, 374 U.S. 150 (1963)
Ziglar v. Abbasi, 137 S.Ct 1843 (2017)

Chapter 16. The Litigation Process

Ross v. Blake, 136 S.Ct. 1850 (2016)
Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81 (2006)

Chapter 17. Private Prisons and Prison Contractors

Richardson v. McKnight, 521 U.S. 399 (1997)
West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42 (1988)

Chapter 18. Criminal Prosecution of Prison/Jail Staff

Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 91 (1945)
United States v. Hickman, 766 Fed. Appx. 240 (6th Cir. 2019)

Chapter 19. Accountability: Voting, Standards, and External Oversight

None

Chapter 20. The COVID-19 Pandemic Behind Bars

Comm. for Public Counsel Svcs v. Chief Justice of the Trial Ct., 142 N.E.3d 525 (Mass. 2020)