The Supreme Court and the Constitutional Rights of Prisoners: A Reappraisal

This article discusses the Supreme Court's attitude toward the constitutional rights of prisoners only with respect to the conditions of confinement.It does not discuss Court opinions pertaining to the procedural due process rights of individuals during a sentencing hearing (e.g., Mempa v. Rhay, 389 U.S. 128 ( 1967); Specht v. Patterson, 386 U.S. 605 (1967); Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. 241 (1949)), or to pretrial detainment of mentally incompetent criminal defendants (e.g., McNeil v. Patuxent Inst., 407 U.S. 245 (1972); Humphrey v. Cady, 405 U.S. 504 (1972); Baxstrom v. Herold, 383 U.S. 107 (1966)), or to conditions under which defendants are detained pending trial (e.g., Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U.S. 715 (1972); Greenwood v. United States, 350 U.S. 366 (1956)).4. For examples of lower court decisions that have protected the constitutional rights of prisoners, see Finney v. Arkansas Bd. of Correction, 505 F.2d 194 (8th Cir.