Of course it's a violation of human rights. Further, it's a violation of state and federal law, and if the prisoner can prove that the prison authorities had full knowledge, he/she has a cause of action in federal court under 42 U.S.C. sec.1983, which provides for attorney's fees and damages. Prisoner cases are among the most common civil rights cases. Prisoners are allowed to file hand-written pleadings, and all costs are waived. As far as I can tell, courts take them very seriously, far more seriously than a similar case brought by a non-prisoner. For example, I recently read a case where a prisoner complained to a federal judge that the warden took away his personal TV for a few days. The judge ruled that the warden shouldn't have done it, but since he gave it back, the warden didn't have to pay damages.
Federal prisons are well-known for being exemplary as far as prisons go. State prison conditions vary widely, e.g. Mississippi and Louisiana have notorious prisons - Parchman and Angola, but Virginia prisons seem to be ok.
So, the laws against human rights violations exist, the laws are enforced, if people break the laws they face legal consequences. I wonder how many countries actually have that kind of track record? |
