ABSTRACT
The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) was passed in 1996 in an effort to limit the number of "frivolous" lawsuits brought by prisoners against their keepers. Even as entire prison systems have been overhauled and reformed, the courts also have had to decide whether prisoners have constitutional rights to amenities such as radios, televisions, and weight benches. In order to limit the latter types of suits, Congress enacted the PLRA. The first provision of the PLRA requires an inmate to exhaust all administrative remedies before filing in federal court. The act also brings up separation-of-powers issues, since it seems as if the Congress is trying to act as judge from the legislature, but as of 2004 no part of the PLRA had been overturned in the Supreme Court. As such, the PLRA is another brick in the foundation of the ongoing hands-off approach to prisoners' rights litigation.
