ABSTRACT
Prisoners' rights were not a particularly large concern to the federal courts throughout most of the nation's history, and the courts took a hands-off approach to prison litigation. The status of prisoners' rights litigation seems to be swinging back toward the hands-off approach, but a few areas remain unresolved. Prisoners retain some of their First Amendment rights, such as the right to send and receive mail as well as certain fundamental religious freedoms. The image of prisoners being dragged off to the hole for long periods of time may still appear in movies, but inmates have some due process rights. Corrections officers must write up violation tickets for rule infractions, and prisoners are allowed to defend themselves against charges in administrative hearings. Courts have routinely found that a prisoner has no expectation of privacy in a cell; the cell is therefore open to reasonable searches at any time.
