Abstract
American prisons are often built near or on environmentally hazardous lands. Not only do prison locations affect prisoners’ health and well-being, but deteriorating confinement conditions exacerbate such safety and wellness risks. In seeking justice for these environmental violations, prison litigants often choose to raise claims under the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause. However, the Clause requires litigants to meet an extremely high—indeed, near-impossible—bar to succeed on their claims. Environmental justice advocates have proposed an alternative remedy which calls on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate environmental injustices in prisons. This Comment analyzes the difficulties of raising an environmental claim under the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause and explores the momentum, or lack thereof, for the inclusion of prisoners’ rights in EPA regulations.
Recommended Citation
Savannah Markel,
Rubbing Salt into the Wound: Environmental Injustices in Prisons and the Difficulties of Obtaining Relief,
114
J. Crim. L. & Criminology
713
(2024).
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol114/iss3/6
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Environmental Law Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons