Constitutional Rights of Detainees-Lessons from American Law
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Huang, Hui-I
Abstract
This thesis focuses on the rights of pretrial detainees and discusses how pretrial detainees should be treated, whether jail conditions differ from prison conditions, by what and how can prisoners claim their constitutional rights.
Taiwan’s Judicial Yuan Interpretation No.653 and No. 654 prompted Detention Act Proposal. However, most of the context of this new act is vague such as “necessary to assure the purpose of detention and the security of jail.” Whether detainees can assert their rights will largely depend on how the court interpreted the concept in each case.
As to the conditions of confinement, American Supreme Court held in Bell v. Wolfish that in evaluating the constitutionality of conditions or restrictions of pretrial detention, the proper inquiry is whether those conditions or restrictions amount to punishment of the detainee. Supreme Court applied the reasonable relationship test, which only demands a rational relation to a legitimate goal. The Eighth Amendment entailed in the Due Process Clause mark the lowed level of confinement conditions. This article then addresses the standards and factors courts apply in different case, including overcrowding, double-ceiling, food, exercise, medical care, mail censorship, visits, cell shake-down search, and strip search case. To summarize, this thesis proposed pretrial detainees should not be treated as convicted prisoners, and the test should stricter than the reasonable relation test. Taiwan Law can learn from the theoretical analysis and empirical source of American case law to detail and interpret the standards for determining the rights or detainees.
Subjects
conditions of confinement
pretrial detention
medical care
refuse to medical care
mail censorship
shake-down search
strip search
Detention Act Proposal
Type
thesis
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