Legal Issues and Liability in Corrections Flashcards
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Read the first 7 Legal Issues and Liability in Corrections flashcards as text
Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), what must an incarcerated person do before filing a federal civil rights lawsuit?
Answer: Exhaust all available administrative remedies
The PLRA requires inmates to exhaust all available administrative grievance remedies before bringing a federal lawsuit regarding prison conditions.
Which legal doctrine shields government officials from personal liability when they act in good faith and do not violate clearly established law?
Answer: Qualified immunity
Qualified immunity protects officials unless they violated a clearly established statutory or constitutional right that a reasonable person would have known about.
A county jail detainee has a serious medical condition and is denied treatment for three days. The strongest legal claim under Section 1983 would be based on which constitutional provision?
Answer: Fourteenth Amendment due process
Pretrial detainees are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause, not the Eighth Amendment, which applies only to convicted persons.
In Farmer v. Brennan (1994), the Supreme Court held that to establish deliberate indifference, a prison official must have:
Answer: Known of and disregarded an excessive risk to inmate safety
Farmer established a subjective standard: the official must have actually known of a substantial risk and deliberately disregarded it.
Which act governs the legal requirements for facilities housing individuals with disabilities and applies to correctional facilities?
Answer: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The ADA applies to state and local correctional facilities, requiring reasonable accommodations for inmates with qualifying disabilities.
When a court issues a consent decree requiring a correctional facility to make specific reforms, what is the primary legal consequence of non-compliance?
Answer: The facility may be held in contempt of court
Failure to comply with a court-ordered consent decree can result in the facility being held in contempt, with potential sanctions such as fines or federal oversight.
The Supreme Court case Turner v. Safley (1987) established a test for evaluating restrictions on inmates' constitutional rights. What is the key question in that test?
Answer: Whether the restriction is reasonably related to a legitimate penological interest
Turner established that prison regulations are valid if reasonably related to legitimate penological interests such as security, order, and rehabilitation.