Currently, there are a number of forms of mistreatment of prisoners within U.S. prisons. These forms can include:

• Holding prisoners in outdated prisons that are unsanitary or unsafe.
• The sexual harassment or assault of prisoners by prison guards or other inmates.
• Preventing a prisoner from complaining about prison conditions to outside parties, such as the courts.
• Punishing a prisoner for complaining about the prison to outside parties.
• Subjecting a prisoner to torture or other forms of cruel and unusual punishment.
• Denying a prisoner medical attention, or providing inadequate medical attention or facilities.

Unfortunately, many victims of this mistreatment go without justice due to a little known legal loophole called qualified immunity. Qualified immunity essentially protects correction staff who mistreat inmates when brought before the court. “According to criminal justice expert and University of Chicago professor William Baude, “The doctrine of qualified immunity prevents government agents from being held personally liable for constitutional violations unless the violation was of ‘clearly established law’”” (Gilna, 2018). “Prison employees can be negligent in the performance of their duties, even to the point of being reckless, and still escape responsibility when sued. Qualified immunity is often justified as shielding government employees from the threat of litigation when they were unaware that their actions or inactions were unconstitutional” (Gilna, 2018). In privately run facilities, employees are not allowed to raise a qualified immunity defense. It is often used in litigation involving publicly-operated facilities (Gilna, 2018).

 

 

 

References

 

Gilna, D. (2018). Prison legal news. Retrieved from https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/may/8/qualified-immunity-doctrine-needs-be-reexamined/.