Gates v. Collier
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Gates v. Collier was a landmark case decided in federal court that brought an end to the trustee system and flagrant inmate abuse at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, Mississippi. It was the first case of a body of law developed in the Fifth Circuit holding that a variety of forms of corporal punishment against prisoners was considered cruel and unusual punishment.[1]
[edit] Case
After years of civil rights protests over the conditions at Parchman, including efforts by the Freedom Riders, civil rights lawyer Roy Haber began to systematically collect evidence of the abuse. Represented by Haber, four Parchman inmates brought suit against the prison superintendent in federal district court alleging violation of their civil rights under the United States Constitution by inflicting cruel and unusual punishment.[2]
In 1972 federal judge William C. Keady found in favor of the inmates, writing that Parchman Farm violated modern standards of decency. He ordered an immediate end to all unconstitutional conditions and practices. Racial segregation of inmates was abolished. And the trustee system, which allow certain inmates to have power and control over others, was also abolished.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Transcript. oyez.org. Retrieved on 2006-08-28.
- ^ ACLU Parchman Prison. Retrieved on 2006-08-29.
- ^ Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice. Retrieved on 2006-08-28.
[edit] External links
- ACLU Parchman Farm
- FindLaw Hope v. Pelzer et al.
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth District
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