In America we have a constitution. Are you familiar with it?
Although prisoners do not have full Constitutional rights, they are protected by the Constitution's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment (see
Amendment VIII). This protection requires that prisoners be afforded a minimum standard of living. Prisoners retain some other Constitutional rights, including
due process in their right to
administrative appeals and a right of access to the
parole process.
The Equal Protection Clause of the
14th Amendment has been held to apply to prison inmates. Prisoners are therefore protected against unequal treatment on the basis of race, sex, and creed. Additionally, the Model Sentencing and Corrections Act provides that a confined person has a protected interest in freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, or sex. Prisoners also have limited rights to speech and religion.
