Prisoners' Rights and Evolving Standards of Decencyxvi -- 1. Federal Courts, Politics, and Prisoners' Rights 1 -- Congress Targets Prisoner Litigation 1 -- Prisoners' Rights and Remedies: Constitutional and Statutory Foundations 4 -- Categories of Prisoner Litigation 4 -- Debate over Court-Mandated Prison Reforms 10 -- 2. Law, Politics, and Strategy in Supreme Court Decision Making 17 -- Models of Supreme Court Decision Making 17 -- Limitations of the Legal and Attitudinal Models 18 -- Legal Model and Prisoners' Rights 19 -- Attitudinal Model 32 -- Strategic Decision Making in Context 34 -- 3. Early Court Decisions and Prisoners' Rights 45 -- Prison Development and Reform 46 -- Late-Nineteenth-Century Penal Reforms 49 -- Prisoners as Slaves of the State 51 -- Emerging Legal Protections 52 -- Defining Cruel and Unusual Punishment 54 -- Doctrine of Excessiveness 56 -- Debate over Incorporation 61 -- Hands-Off Doctrine 64 -- 4. Warren Court and Prisoners' Rights, 1953-1969 69 -- Composition of the Warren Court 70 -- A New Standard for Eighth Amendment Violations 73 -- "Status" Crimes Ruled Cruel and Unusual 75 -- Justice Goldberg Argues Against the Death Penalty 78 -- Expanding Access to the Courts 79 -- Leadership of Chief Justice Warren 81 -- Counsel Must Be Provided at Probation Revocation Hearing 82 -- Court Refuses to Extend Robinson Holding 83 -- Guaranteeing Equal Protection and Access to Legal Services 85 -- Warren Court and Prisoners' Rights: An Assessment 87 -- 5. Burger Court and Prisoners' Rights, 1969-1986 93 -- Composition of the Burger Court 94 -- Access to the Federal Courts 97 -- Religious Freedom for Prisoners 98 -- Legal Advocacy, Prisoner Protests, and the Court of Public Opinion 99 -- State Death Penalty Statutes Held Unconstitutional 100 -- Prison Practices Come under Scrutiny 101 -- Court Restricts Due Process Guarantees 109 -- "Totality of Conditions" Cases 113 -- "Deliberate Indifference" Standard for Medical Care 114 -- Revised Death Penalty Statutes Are Reviewed 117 -- Court Reaffirms Access to Legal Resources 124 -- Press Denied Access to Prisons 124 -- Double-Celling of Inmates Upheld 126 -- Proportionality in Punishment 127 -- Court Shows More Deference Toward Prison Administrators 131 -- Burger Court and Prisoners' Rights: An Assessment 136 -- 6. Rehnquist Court and Prisoners' Rights, 1986-Present 145 -- Composition of the Rehnquist Court 145 -- Felony Murder and Capital Sentencing 149 -- Race Discrimination and Capital Sentencing 151 -- Narrowing First Amendment Protections for Prisoners 155 -- Defining Eligibility for Capital Punishment 161 -- Use of Victim Impact Statements in Capital Sentencing 166 -- Court Revisits Proportionality Principle under the Eighth Amendment 168 -- "Deliberate Indifference" Standard 171 -- Modification of Consent Decrees 172 -- Use of Excessive Force May Be Cruel and Unusual Punishment 174 -- Habeas Corpus Petitions under Attack 176 -- Justice Blackmun Announces His Opposition to the Death Penalty 177 -- Secondhand Smoke and Inmate Health 179 -- Court Clarifies the "Deliberate Indifference" Standard 180 -- Court Weakens Due Process Guarantees 181 -- Inmate Access to Legal Resources Limited 181 -- Congress and Habeas Corpus Reform 182 -- Rehnquist Court and Prisoners' Rights: An Assessment 183 -- 7. Prisoners' Rights, the Supreme Court, and Evolving Standards of Decency 191 -- Assessing the Role of the Court in Developing Prisoners' Rights 191 -- Evidence of Strategic Interaction on the Court 193 -- Congress and the Prison Litigation Reform Act 196 -- Law, Politics, and Prisoners' Rights 197.