More woes in British crime and punishment: “Compensation payments to prisoners have doubled in the last year to more than £4 million, while the total legal bill to the Prison Service has reached £20 million a year, The Times has learnt.” (Richard Ford, The Times (London), May 19). A couple of recent prisoner-suicide suits in the U.S.: Apr. 17, Apr. 28.
One Comment
As a purely conceptual matter, there ought not be a logical obstacle to prisoners maintaining civil suits, because it’s not part of their punishment to bear the burden of something the common law says they shouldn’t. Having said that, though, the practical reality is that prisons are sitting ducks for men who, as noted, have plenty of time on their hands and every incentive to file frivolous suits. An act of the legislature could and should evaporate the business quite easily. So long as there is basic medical care, there is no ‘human rights’ issue. And if part of the animus is that these men are just bad and should forfeit the right to sue the prison, even for something colorably legitimate, that’s fine by me. I think it’s time to take a look at other such possible forfeitures, such as, in the U.S., the right of illegal aliens to sue.