Prisoner’s Rights
Inmates have rights but their rights have resulted to an effect in the administration of the correctional facility. Though incarcerated they should enjoy rights such as the right to free expressions. As a result the prisoners have the right to questions the administrations for the restriction of their rights. The prison administration has no choice but to justify any move it makes to the prisoners with regards to restriction of speech and communication. Inmates also have the freedom of worship. The prison administration is therefore obliged to provide the inmates with opportunities and locations to practice their faith. Inmate’s rights to access the courts means that the prison department is obliged to ensure that the inmate receives the assistance he/she requires with reference to the hearing of his/her case (Hudson, & Marzilli, 2011).
Inmates also have the rights to due process which ensures that their freedom is not infringed. It is therefore the responsibility of the prison administration to ensure that the inmate has bee notified of the charges against him as well as assured of the ability to call his/her witnesses. The inmate has the right to equal protection free off racial or gender discrimination. The prison administration is therefore obliged to ensure that the facilities and programs offered at the prison are just as those offered in any other prison. Prisoners have the rights to be protected from cruel treatment. Cruel treatment and punishment include the overcrowding of prisoners in one institution. As a result, the prison administration has been forced to ensure that the prisoners are not overcrowded in institutions and they also are able to access medical treatment if unwell (Schmalleger, 2011).
To some extent some correctional facilities give the prisoners too much privilege. This is especially common in private prisons. For instance, some facilities have television sets with satellites to the prisoners as well as gyms and weighing rooms. These two amenities are luxuries and cost the tax payers an extra amount of money to facilitate yet the funds would have been used elsewhere (Schmalleger, 2011).
Prisoner/inmates should just be accorded the basic rights such as accessibility of food, shelter, clothing, medication and religious practices. The freedom of expression should be monitored to some degree as it is the main reason as to why prison riots occur. Expression of interest or ideas should only bee made possible through the monitoring of the prison administration. This is so because of the prisoner’s tendency to riots as they see it to be their right of expression.
KAREN BERGER
The rights mentioned by Karen are true. The right to clothing is a secondary right which is only possible during the release of the inmate. However the fact that the rights of the prison are determined by the prison facility is not true as most of the rights are founded in the US constitution on the rights of the prisoners. The prison should not be viewed as an institution to penalize the offenders, but as a place for rehabilitation, to change their ways so as to be able to fit in the community once released. Basic rights should therefore be accorded to the prisoners so that they have the right environment to embrace change in their lifestyle (Schmalleger, 2011).
CARLA FAISON
The rights discussed are also appropriate. However prisoners with mental conditions should not be held in the same institution as the mentally stable prisoners. Such prisoners are not mentally stable and can cause bodily harm to themselves or the rest of the prisoners. The freedom of expression should only be based on the airing of complaints and a proper channel should be established to avoid occurrences of riots as an excuse of freedom of expression. Since the prisoners do not have a means to fend for themselves the prisons administration ahs no choice but to be solely responsible for the up keep and the custody of the prisoners as long as they are incarcerated in the prison. To avoid occurrence of chaos in the prison facility the administrations should create a lee way of communicating with the prisoners so that issues are sort before they get out of hand (Schmalleger, 2011).
Reference
Hudson, D. & Marzilli, A. (2011). Prisoners’ Rights. Infobase Publishing, 2007
Schmalleger, F. S. (2011). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st Century. Pearson Prentice Hall
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