Conditions of Confinement in Jails and Prisons
The Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments,” which includes inhumane treatment and conditions while confined. If someone is experiencing treatment or conditions that they believe are unlawful, they must first file a grievance regarding the incident(s) or condition(s) using the jail or prison’s internal grievance process, and take (“exhaust”) any appeals that can be taken inside that process before going to court. If the grievance and appeal process (“administrative remedies”) do not solve the problem, the person can then try to file a lawsuit in court. Depending on the issue, there are often two different types of claims and three different kinds of courts (“jurisdictions”) where people can file a lawsuit—it is important to file the right type of claim in the right kind of court or the claim could be dismissed. Because of the limits of our resources, our office is not able to represent every person who writes to us regarding conditions of confinement. However, we read every letter that we get, and, when we cannot offer to represent someone, we write back and send forms, manuals or other information if we have it, to help people in prison file a lawsuit on their own.
The first of the two types of claims that people can generally file based on cruel or inhumane conditions is a federal claim of cruel and unusual punishment. That kind of claim can be brought in federal court by anyone who is in a jail or prison facility, and is brought against specific prison staff who created, or refused to fix, the conditions. To win this kind of claim, someone needs to prove two things: 1) that they were deprived of one or more of life’s necessities (food, warmth, sanitation, shelter from the elements, medical care, etc.) in a way that was serious enough that it violates the constitution and 2) that certain staff of the jail or prison created the deprivation intentionally or with deliberate indifference to punish the person.
The second type of claim is a negligence claim. People can bring negligence claims based on things that happened in jails in the Superior Court of the county where the things happened. People can bring negligence claims about things that happened in prison in the North Carolina Industrial Commission. To succeed in a negligence claim, someone has to show 1) that prison or jail officials had a specific legal duty to protect the person, 2) that those officials unintentionally neglected or breached that duty, 3) that the breach of duty directly and legally caused the injury to the person, and 4) how much damage the injury caused.
