Exam 14: Legal Issues and Liability

The courts have been somewhat reluctant to order corrections to comply with religious requirements that pose logistical and economic problems to implement.

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below: -An inmate seeks $10 million in damages for being kept on a bread-and-water diet and held in solitary confinement in violation of due process rights. The court holds the correctional agency liable in the amount of $3.5 million.

If an inmate's mail is rejected, the inmate must be notified, and the author of the letter must be allowed to protest.

Visitors can be required to submit to a frisk search as a condition of being allowed to visit an inmate.

Visitors can be required to submit to a strip search as a condition of being allowed to visit an inmate.

Under most circumstances, frisking inmates and conducting cell searches do not fall within the Fourth Amendment's search and seizure provisions.

Visitors can be required to submit to a strip search as a condition of being allowed to visit an inmate.

The courts have ruled that whenever facilities are overcrowded, they are in violation of the cruel and unusual punishment provision of the Eighth Amendment.

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below: -An inmate seeks $2 million in damages for being forced to sleep on the floor without a mattress for two days when the facility was drastically overcrowded. The court rules in favor of the inmate, and issues a "cease and desist" order to the agency to prevent it from allowing this practice in the future. However, the court holds the agency liable for only $20 ($10 for each day that the inmate had to sleep on the floor).

An inmate body-cavity search cannot be conducted without reasonable suspicion.

During the "hands-off" phase of judicial intervention in corrections, the courts did not tend to interfere with correctional practices for many years because:

During the "involved-hands" phase of judicial intervention:

The Supreme Court has ruled that capital punishment is:

The courts have upheld the right of correctional officials to prohibit inmates from wearing any religious medals, regardless of whether it can be proven that they present a danger to the institution.

Correspondence with one's attorney cannot be read or censored.

Indicate which of the following is being described in the statements below: -Action is taken for the purpose of obtaining monetary compensation.

Given only the facts stated, determine whether the situations described below reflect circumstances involving vicarious liability (A or B). If not vicarious, indicate whether there is any potential for liability at all (C or D). In other words, every item marked "B" will also have a second answer. -An officer has been employed under the historic approach and is scheduled to go to the training academy within the next three months. During that time, she was not informed of the agency's policy about using leg restraints during outside transportation. She takes an inmate to a court appearance and, as they are exiting the vehicle, the inmate takes off. Two days later, he rapes and murders a teenage girl. Her family threatens to sue.

Staff working in correctional facilities have no more Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure than inmates.

The courts have held that double-bunking:

Supporters of the death penalty argue that: