All prisoners have the basic

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...

needed to survive and sustain a reasonable way of life. Most rights are taken away ostensibly so the prison system can maintain order, discipline, and security. Any of the following rights, given to prisoners, can be taken away for that purpose: Prisoner may refer to one of the following: * A person incarcerated in a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, English language in England, standard English, Australian English, Australian, and Huron Historic Gaol, historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention cen ...

or similar facility. *

Prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

, a

combatant Combatant is the legal status of an individual who has the right to engage in hostilities during an armed conflict. The legal definition of "combatant" is found at article 43(2) of Additional Protocol I (AP1) to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It ...

non-combatant Non-combatant is a term of art in the law of war and international humanitarian law to refer to civilians who are not taking a direct part in hostilities; persons, such as combat medics and military chaplains, who are members of the belligere ...

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

time, held by a

belligerent A belligerent is an individual, group, country, or other entity that acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. The term comes from the Latin ''bellum gerere'' ("to wage war"). Unlike the use of ''belligerent'' as an adjective meaning ...

power *

Political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

, someone held in prison for their

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

. * A person forcibly detained against his will, such as a victim of kidnapping; such prisoners may be held hostage, or held to ransom, but not necessarily in a prison or similar facility. The right to: * not be punished cruelly or unusually * due processes * administrative appeals * access the

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

process (denied to those incarcerated in the Federal System) * practice religion freely * equal protection ( Fourteenth Amendment) * be notified of all charges against them * receive a written statement explaining

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

used in reaching a

disposition A disposition is a quality of character, a habit, a preparation, a state of readiness, or a tendency to act in a specified way. The terms dispositional belief and occurrent belief refer, in the former case, to a belief that is held in the mind bu ...

* file a

civil suit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

against another person * medical treatment (both long and short term) * treatment that is both adequate and appropriate * a hearing upon being relocated to the

mental health facility Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

. *

personal property property is property that is movable. In common law systems, personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. In civil law systems, personal property is often called movable property or movables—any property that can be moved fr ...

such as: cigarettes, stationery, a watch, cosmetics, and snack-food * visitation *

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of ...

* food that would sustain an average person adequately. * bathe (for sanitation and health reasons). Many rights are taken away from prisoners often temporarily. For example, prison personnel are required to read and inspect all in-going or out-going mail, in order to prevent prisoners from obtaining

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

. The only time a prisoner has a full

right to privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 150 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. On 10 December 194 ...

is in conversations with their attorney.

Prison Litigation Reform Act

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, the Prison Litigation Reform Act, or PLRA, is a federal statute enacted in 1996 with the intent of limiting "frivolous lawsuits" by prisoners. Among its provisions, the PLRA requires prisoners to exhaust all possibly executive means of reform before filing for litigation, restricts the normal procedure of having the losing defendant pay legal fees (thus making fewer lawyers willing to represent a prisoner), allows for the courts to dismiss cases as "frivolous" or "malicious", and requires prisoners to pay their court fees up front if they have three previous instances of a case having been dismissed as "frivolous."Meeropol, R. & Head, I. (2010). Brief summary of the prison litigation reform act (PLRA). ''The Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook.'' Retrieved from http://jailhouselaw.org/brief-summary-prison-litigation-reform-act/

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

* http://www.law.cornell.edu Penal system in the United States Human rights in the United States

Prison Litigation Reform Act

See also

References

External links