...With inmates have access to the courts through their constitutional rights, many inmates us the courts to appeal their convictions and sentences. The court system also hears cases where the policies or conditions of the prisons are challenged. Many inmates us the court system for frivolous things because they can, this is a waste of the courts time and taxpayers money. When the doors of the courts are opened to prisoners there is a flood of inmate litigation (Carlson, & Garrett, 2008). The number of civil rights filing doubled in the U. S. district courts from 1990 (18, 922 filing) to 1997 (43, 278 filing), this stabilized until 2003. From 2003 through 2006, the number of civil rights cases declined by 20%. During the period from 1990 through 2006 the civil rights cases that were concluded by trail declined from 8% to 3%, during the period from 2000 to 2006 these...
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...Human rights have been a controversial issue because it is very difficult to draw the boundary between the rights of the individual versus the rights of a group. At the same time, it is accepted that while all humans are entitled to protection of natural, basic rights, there are always limits on these rights. The best example is the generally accepted principle that when one infringes on the rights of another (for example murder), they forfeit their own claim to such rights. These people are condemned to different levels of punishment according to the Law. Here comes my topic for today: Prisoners should Be Used for Medical Experiments Without Consent. In this debate, I will define “prisoners” as those who are sentenced to the death penalty in the United States. The “medical experiments” are limited exclusively for the purpose of the development of vaccines and cures for pandemic diseases (example is the Measles vaccine or Tuberculosis vaccine which saved millions of human lives). Under our definition, this House should allow medical experiments on prisoners without consent under the supervision of U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Prisoners who are sentenced to death should have without consent, under the supervision of U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to have medical experiments conducted. It is realized that most medical experiments are cruel, so why not scope medical experiments for vaccine development only, and only when facing the threat of a...
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...Constitution, a prisoner has the right to appear in court to find out the reason that they are being detained. If the prisoner feels that they are being detained unlawfully, they can file a petition, with the help of legal counsel, to the court in order to have their case heard. This action is called a Writ of Habeas Corpus. This procedure helps to keep the government from detaining an individual without just cause. The judge will only hear whether or not the prisoner’s rights were infringed upon. If the prisoner’s rights were violated, the judge could ultimately set him free (Starrs, 2007). However, in the case of war time prisoners, if those individuals are not United States citizens, they are may not be given the same civil liberties as an American would be. In the current war on terror, it has been debated whether or not the prisoners who are being detained should be given the same rights to Habeas Corpus as anyone else would. Should these individuals be held for an indefinite amount of time, are they entitled to the same “due process of law” as it states in the 5th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, or will their right of Habeas Corpus be suspended because of the events leading up their arrest? In order to answer these questions, we must first look as some of the specifics of the habeas corpus, such as its history and how it came to be in the U.S. Constitution, the relevance of habeas corpus, and how it effects the war on terror. Everyone deserves the right to be heard in...
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...Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror POL 201: American National Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror Habeas Corpus is a term unlikely known to many detainees in Guantanamo Bay. The war on terror has gone from protecting our country from terrorist, to slowly but surely doing onto these detainees what other tyrants were doing before us. Habeas Corpus is a law that was placed in the constitution in order for guarantee that no one would be held prisoner without a trial. According to the constitution the writ to Habeas Corpus is implemented to prevent tyranny and false imprisonments. In the length that our nation has been around there has only been three instances in which the habeas corpus writ was suspended. The first was after the civil war (during the reconstruction) and most recently during the War on Terror. The War on Terror has brought the Habeas Corpus writ into different perspective when it was approved that the writ be suspended for prisoners in Guantanamo Bay (GITMO). The Bush administration went under severe scrutiny after choosing GITMO as a detention center for “enemy combatants/illegal combatants” and suspending the Habeas Corpus writ to them. There had been no legal aid provided so that the detainees could attempt to prove innocence. In the over zealous need to prevent further terrorist attacks in a way we condoned terrorist like ideals. In 2008, the verdict in Boumediene v. Bush the Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration...
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...Paper 1 Most of us assume that one of the penalties of being incarcerated is that prisoners are prohibited from any private contact with their spouse. However, this is not the case with the policy of conjugal visits. These special visits, allow an inmate and his/her spouse a private visit. They are permitted to engage in sexual intercourse. Often times the visits include family members, such as grandparents or children. The intention for these visits are “designed to help keep families together in an environment that approximates home… and serve as incentives for good behavior, reduce sexual activity among prisoners and strengthen families” (Seversonjan). Nonetheless, recent debates have ensued in state penitentiaries about conjugal visits. For starters, these visits are only allowed to a minority of prisoners who are legally married. Those that aren’t would get jealous about not being able to participate. There are also the dangers of sexually transmitted infections (such as HIV) or unplanned pregnancies. The program is also very expensive, costing the prison and tax payers lots of money. Originally, these visits were used as a bribe in the early 1900’s. Sex was used to push African Americans inmates to work harder in the fields. Still holding true today, conjugal visits are used “more as a way to control inmates than nurture relationships” (Seversonjan). Fifty years ago, during the pre-civil war era, a similar, but harsher system was in effect. Slaves and other minorities were...
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...Prisoner Rights Robert Bregante CJS230 April 17, 2011 Michael Lew Prisoner Rights A major part of the evolution within the prison system is prisoner rights. Even though citizens loose many of their rights once committing a felony, there are still rights afforded to those individuals incarcerated. Prisoner rights are important to maintaining balance within the prison system. They give the prisoners a voice, which prevents prison officials from abusing their power. Prisoner rights are necessary to maintaining a particular level of care for inmates, for it forces the correctional staff to be more hands on in their approach. This way they may also receive the treatment necessary for proper rehabilitation, as well as the tools for reintegration into society. It seems prisoner rights have played an essential role in the evolution of the prison system; it has had both positive and negative effects on inmates, and when looking at the key elements in obtaining those rights it is important to recognize the 8th amendment and section 1983 of civil rights litigation. Rights for prisoners can be a great benefit to the individual inmate should they choose to take advantage of them. While in the past, the system may have worked against inmates wanting to have their issues heard and a fair review of their case, the present era offers various courses of legal action for inmates to take. Prisoners are now able to speak out against cruel and unusual punishment. They can file lawsuits...
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...Habeas Corpus POL201: American National Government Instructor: Paul Edleman Kimberly Rice December 17, 2012 Habeas Corpus in Latin, means, “You have the body.” In this paper I intend to inform the reader of the meaning of Habeas Corpus and its relationship to our civil liberties. I will also cover the revolution of habeas corpus; both the English and American traditions that have affected habeas corpus will be covered also. I will talk about the influence that the new threats of war on terror and the consequential changes of law that have affected habeas corpus currently. The general meaning of the right of habeas corpus in the U.S. Constitution and its relationship to the protection of other civil liberties is that habeas corpus protects a prisoner and it also allows a prisoner to indicate that his/her constitution guarantees rights to a fair trial. Habeas corpus is a writ that was formed as a Habeas corpus Act in 1679 and is used to keep an individual from being unlawfully imprisoned. Habeas corpus is very important when it comes to the prisoners questioning why they are being held or imprisoned. There are five writs; the first writ is the petition for habeas corpus which is when a prisoner raises doubt about the legality of his/her imprisonment. Next is writ of habeas corpus, which is the order to be brought to court. Then there is Mandamus, which in Latin, means, “We Command”. This is an order from the Supreme Court or High court to lower court or tribunal or...
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...information? According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, torture is considered as the ultimate violation of human being's individual rights and is the only crime that every state must punish. The Abu Ghraib torture and prison abuse case suffers the utmost unbearable torture implemented by the U.S military army on the innocent prisoners. The case also demonstrates the impact of the unfair use of power over the prisoners as the military uses restricted techniques of torture to humiliate the prisoners and gather information. In the summer of 2003, the Abu Ghraib case came to public attention shortly after the U.S military army committed human rights violations against the prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib Prison. They used unethical methods of physically and mentally torturing the prisoners as part of their interrogation techniques. Some of the harsher interrogation techniques forced upon the prisoners were engaging in sexual and homosexual behaviours and using opaque bags to cover their faces. The increasing pressure forced upon the U.S military army to determine the cause of the mortar attacks on the U.S eventually, led to many military personnel applying harsher interrogation techniques to procure more information from the prisoners. To protect the Americans from terrorism, the U.S started to control the bodies of prisoners in Iraq and threatened their ultimate human security by violating their fundamental human rights. The usage of inhumane torture authorized by the higher...
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...CUSTODIAL AND NON-CUSTODIAL MEASURES The Prison System Criminal justice assessment toolkit 1 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME Vienna CUSTODIAL AND NON-CUSTODIAL MEASURES The Prison System Criminal Justice Assessment Toolkit UNITED NATIONS New York, 2006 The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations, the Secretariat and Institutions of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Belgian 2006 OSCE Chairmanship concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This publication has not been formally edited. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ISSUE ..................................................................................... 1 2. OVERVIEW: GENERAL AND STATISTICAL DATA ......................................................... 5 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 7.1 7.2 OVERVIEW OF COUNTRY AND PRISON SYSTEM.............................................. 5 PRISON POPULATION ........................................................................................... 6 PROFILE OF PRISON POPULATION..................................................................... 6 QUALITY OF DATA ......................................
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...Facts and figures about Amnesty International and its work for human rights This facts and figures sheet gives an overview of the work of Amnesty International and the work carried out by the organization in 1998. 1) The Beginning Amnesty International was launched in 1961 by British lawyer Peter Benenson. His newspaper appeal, "The Forgotten Prisoners", was published worldwide on 28 May 1961 and brought in more than 1,000 offers of support for the idea of an international campaign to protect human rights. Within 12 months the new organization had sent delegations to four countries to make representations on behalf of prisoners, and had taken up 210 cases. Amnesty International members had organized national bodies in seven countries. The first year's expenditure was £6,040. The principles of strict impartiality and independence were established. The emphasis was on the international protection of human rights: Amnesty International members were to act on cases worldwide and not become involved in cases in their own countries. 2) Today Amnesty International has more than 1,000,000 members, subscribers and regular donors in more than 160 countries and territories. There are more than 5,300 local, youth & student, and professional AI groups registered at the International Secretariat plus several thousand other youth & student groups, specialist groups, networks and coordinators in more than 90 countries & territories throughout the world. representatives...
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...exploration to the land. In the 1800 most of the exiles in Siberia were war prisoners who were involved in the second world war. The uses of Siberia as an exile place for war prisoners later it became un economical due to the fact that it lacked moder prisons though it continued to catter for more and more war verterans due to the limited space that the Russians prison had and considering the fact that it was cheap to have people moved to the area and support them selves and also it made it possible to move people away from the capitol where if left there would cause some havoc bothe to the government and to the people. Through the leadership of Nicholas II, Siberia was viewed as a place of great interest booth to the locals and the people who came from far parts of the region. He encouraged the colonization of Siberia due to its richness in gold and also its agricultural potential. He also made a move in reducing rural over population in the country by moving people to Siberia not mentioning how the railway helped in the opening up of the region to the rest of the world. After Siberia became part of the Russian government, decades after it was made a place of exile by the empire in order to serve the political ends. Choosing Siberia as a Place of Exile As with other Western powers that gained colonies overseas, the acquisition of Siberia led to making it a place of exile. Criminal and political prisoners had been sent to Siberia for more than three centuries;...
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... Prof. Jason Weinerman 5/12/14 Introduction The basic right to question the government and hold it accountable is a basic hallmark of American Government. The right of the individual to question those in power, whom, according to the US Constitution, are there to represent and/or serve the public, is what makes the American construct unique. Our strength as a nation is manifested in the fact that we even treated our enemies within the rule of the law, even when the Great Writ was suspended. The Writ of Habeas Corpus which is the right to question and challenge the grounds in which our government holds a sovereign free American citizen against their will, is among our most basic fundamental rights. In the following pages, we will explore the history and what has caused us to stray from this ideal and, perhaps, instill the idea in the reader that all American citizens and aliens detained under suspicion, no matter the circumstance, must be treated justly. History of Habeas Corpus The right for prisoners to seek habeas corpus no matter how heinous their crime was present long before the United States was founded. In 1215, King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta by his nobility. It effectively curtailed monarchal power, and forbade people...
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...Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror U.S. Presidents have been known to assert their presidential prerogative in times of crisis. Their decisions, sometimes haste and irrational, were rarely challenged by the Supreme Court because of extenuating circumstances. Over the years, our nation’s leaders made the tough decisions that raised eyebrows in the Supreme Court and caused confusion among the American public. The latest battle that has our nation in an uproar is terrorism. Since the attack on September 11, 2001, the American government has exercised its powers to detain suspected terrorist or illegal combatants for the sake of national security. Such actions violate the right of habeas corpus which grants detainees due process in court. Is it a question of what is right according to the executive powers of war or the right of habeas corpus? The need to explore the right of habeas corpus is an understatement; during the war on terror, it was simply an afterthought. Habeas Corpus has evolved over the course of history but still holds the same core principles. Unlike the evolution of man, habeas corpus has been subjective to interpretation and uncertainty of its true meaning. The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 was passed during the reign of King Charles II by what became known as the Habeas Corpus Parliament to define and strengthen the ancient prerogative writ of habeas corpus, a procedural device to force the courts to examine the lawfulness of a prisoner's detention...
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...The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787 and specifically referred to the writ of habeas corpus as a fundamental legal underpinning of the new nation. The thirteen original states ratified the Constitution and then it was amended in 1791 by the Bill of Rights. The request for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus is made before a judge and, if granted, a prisoner must be brought before the judge. The writ requires whoever is holding the prisoner to produce him before the judge at a time determined by the judge. The writ of habeas corpus was the �mechanism� for the founders to encourage the separation of powers and maintain the balance between them because it was the ultimate protector of the rights of any individual threatened with unlawful imprisonment or detention. The courts had the legal authority to require the imprisoning governmental body to bring the accused to court and if the prisoner was not produced then the people who authorized the imprisonment were to be held in contempt of court. The founders understood that the law and not the government should be the ultimate determinant of our democracy and that the rights of its people had to be the law�s focus. The writ of habeas corpus came from the legal traditions of English common law and it survived because it represented the struggle of the individual against the excess of governmental abuse. It directly addressed the inequality of power between a citizen and the government and it is the basis of...
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...Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror POL 201: American National Government April 17, 2013 Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror The war on terror presents an unpredictable challenge for the United States. Throughout history, the motivation of man’s self-interest has concluded in the domination of those with little or no power. Habeas Corpus is written in the constitution as a right of the people and should be a safeguard to protect all accused persons, but many presidents have found ways not to enforce the right. In history the writ of habeas corpus has been challenged by many president from Lincoln to most recently Bush with abuse of power by the president. I will exam whether the president goes against the constitution to protect the safety of its citizens in a time of war or is it an abuse of power because the president is the commander and chief. Is the president acting on behalf of the people or is it a personal agenda. Habeas Corpus in Latin, means, “You have the body.” According to our text habeas corpus means, “a demand by a court to a jailer to produce the prisoner and announce the charges” (Waldman-Levin, 2012, 5.7). In my opinion for most Americans, habeas corpus protects a prisoner and it also allows a prisoner to indicate that his/her constitution guarantees rights to a fair trial. “From a political point of view, the great value of habeas corpus is that it protects citizens from a dangerous tendency which is generally...
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