Inmates' Civil Rights Cases and the Federal Courts: Insights Derived from a Field Research Project in the Eastern District of California
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Authors
Mueller, Kim
Issue Date
1995
Volume
28
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
INTRODUCTION|In the Spring of 1994, crime topped the public's list of concerns. In response, measures designed to lock more people up - like "three strikes and you're out" - moved to the top of political agendas. Riding on the same wave of anti-crime and anti-criminal fervor, elected officials nationwide introduced a range of measures to eliminate rights and privileges previously enjoyed by inmates already incarcerated. A special target of the political wrath was inmates' civil rights litigation filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section 1983"). State legislatures passed bills erecting higher barriers to inmates' access to the courts. Both houses of Congress introduced similar measures, some of which became law in 1994.|In the quieter chambers of the federal judicial branch, inmate cases also were the focus of attention, for different reasons and certainly not as a new sensation. For the last fourteen years at least,the federal courts have faced a growing caseload and workload challenge posed by inmate cases filed under Section 1983. By 1992, these filings numbered nearly 30,000, and constituted 13% of the courts' total civil case filings nationwide...
Description
Citation
28 Creighton L. Rev. 1255 (1994-1995)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law