By Carol A. Fichtelman
Published by William S. Hein & Co., Inc. (2017)
KF 9371 .F53 2017
The 68th volume in a collection of research guides, Prisoners’ Rights: A Legal Research Guide provides researchers with a resource covering the rights of those who are incarcerated in either a federal or state facility. Author Carol A. Fichtelman focuses her attention on both primary and secondary resources and includes some handy websites that might act as good starting points for research. Of course, the first and foremost primary source when it comes to prisoners’ rights is the United States Constitution, and the author readily directs the user to the pertinent sections. In addition to the Constitution, the author points out applicable federal statutes and regulations. She also devotes a section to listing various federal agencies that deal with the rights of prisoners. Also included in the section detailing primary sources are state statutes concerning the laws on diet, religious beliefs, health care, punishment, and grooming.
The second part of the guide focuses on secondary resources. These include legal encyclopedias, specific volumes of American Law Reports, legal periodical articles, books, and a listing of national and state prisoners’ rights organizations.
Although not meant to be a comprehensive guide, Prisoners’ Rights: A Legal Research Guide provides some of the tools necessary to locate information about the ever-changing area of prisoners’ rights.