Prisoner rights involve balancing citizenship rights with practical imprisonment issues. The right to vote, freedom of expression and religion, and poor prison conditions are controversial topics. Some US states revoke the right to vote for felons, while overcrowding and inadequate medical care are issues raised by prisoner advocacy groups.
The issue of a prisoner’s rights involves balancing the rights associated with being a citizen of the jurisdiction in which the prisoner is incarcerated with the practical issues that imprisonment entails. Perhaps the most controversial issue on this topic is an inmate’s right to vote. Many jurisdictions have revoked the right to vote – called a “privilege” – of anyone convicted of certain crimes. Given the limitations of a prison, civil rights such as inmates’ rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion are at the forefront of this debate. Furthermore, the dehumanization of inmates due to poor conditions in prisons is a topic often targeted by inmate advocacy groups.
The disenfranchisement of an inmate is a highly controversial topic in areas where the right to vote is considered fundamental for every citizen. For example, in some US states, any person convicted of a felony, that is, a felony that carries a prison sentence of one year or more, loses the right to vote. However, many states have rescinded any disfranchisement laws that were once in effect.
Another issue with prisoner rights is how incarceration interferes with various civil liberties. A common complaint is that freedom of expression is often restricted by prison guards who order inmates not to speak in languages the guard cannot understand. Furthermore, detainees who belong to religions that require special circumstances for prayer often find it difficult to do so given the restrictions on detention. The argument is that prisoners should have their religious beliefs accommodated by the prison for these special purposes. On the other hand, prisons argue that being subjected to detention entails the reduction of these fundamental rights.
Perhaps the most talked about issue of prisoners’ rights is the conditions of the prisons housing the prisoners. Prison overcrowding is an issue often debated by prisoners’ rights advocates. The argument put forward by these organizations is that by overpopulating these prisons with inmates, conditions are impossible to keep sanitary and inmates are made vulnerable to harm by other inmates and guards. Furthermore, housing more inmates than the staff are equipped to handle makes it impractical to provide adequate medical care to those in need.
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