The Legacy of Wolfish and Chapman: Some Thoughts About 'Big Prison Case' Litigation in the 1980s

Abstract

In the past fifteen years, the conditions of American prisons have moved from the grist of movies to the attention of the courts. Judges throughout the nation have been asked to adjudicate the legality of issues as diverse as the adequacy of prison food and the ability of jail inmates to use typewriters. A body of litigation that did not exist twenty years ago now commands significant attention in the federal courts.