Law Meets Society

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Grievances were part of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, these are designed to reduce prisoner lawsuits. What these actually do in the prison system is silence the prisoners. The process of filing a grievance may not be clearly understood by those incarcerated and the way the system is set up can possibly kick out a legitimate issue due to strict adherence to procedures. Inmates faced with learning disabilities or mental illness may never understand how the process works. Which “one federal judge described prison grievance systems as “a series of stalling tactics, and dead-ends with-out resolution” (Calavita, 40). There are ways that grievances can be used as retaliation against staff which at least gives the inmates minimal power to get their issues addressed.

Lastly there are laws which target a particular population of people an example of this would be “undesirables” (101). These undesirables are typically the homeless and the laws attempt to remove the homeless from urban centers and public view. One point Calavita makes is how laws can be enforced on some people and not others. The example she gives in her book is “Few middle-class people are likely to find themselves in these circumstances… such as picnicking or observing a night sky in a park, whereas the less fortunate may be charged for the offense of sleeping in a public park” (101). I chose this because depending on the way I’m driving to campus I sometimes pass the homeless shelter where in the morning the homeless are put back on the streets and usually there is police presence. Which when homeless or member of society or a citizen with a lower socioeconomic status are arrested it causes further disparities within the criminal justice system.

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