Fourth Amendment of the American constitution
There are rights that the incarcerated inmates do not enjoy while in prison, and there are others that they enjoy. All these rights affect them in one way or another. Being incarcerated denies inmates the freedom to engage in many things. First, the Fourth Amendment of the American constitution gives the right to privacy to every citizen in the U.S. However, and inmates do not enjoy this right as the police officers can conduct unwarranted searches on them at any time. Though the prisoners have the right to receive magazines and letters from outside, the officers can decide to open the letters and read what is enclosed. In most instances, the officers deny the inmates the right to privacy as a strategy to strengthen security in the correctional centers. Second, incarcerated inmates in the U.S are denied the right to vote. It is only two states, Maine and Vermont, in the U.S that allow inmates to vote. In all the other states, inmate voting is prohibited. Inmates regain their right to vote after they are released from prisons. Even other states deny eligibility for ex-prisoners for some time, especially during the probation period. Voting should be allowed for inmates because being incarcerated does not deny them being U.S citizens, and the elected governments have a significant impact on the criminal justice system. Thus they should be allowed to practice this right.
The police wardens who protect the incarcerated inmates are placed under limitations to ensure that they do not mistreat the inmates. First, the law prohibits corporal punishments to the inmates. Though the constitution did not define the penalties that can be categorized as corporal, it is the work of judges to evaluate different penalties in case inmates present cases involving inappropriate punishments in courts. Some of the corporal punishments mostly mentioned include burning alive, disemboweling, beheading, and public dissection. The Supreme Court can discuss other forms of sentences and decide if they are corporal. The officers are restricted to the use of excessive force in prison. The police officers are only allowed to use excessive force, such as the use of live bullets is when the inmates pose a severe threat to the officers. Such risks include escape from prison or when they have an indent of injuring the officers or other inmates by the use of guns. Officers need to balance the inmates’ rights with safety. The best way to ensure the inmates do not oblige their rights is by informing them of the possible punishments if they are found obligating them. Second, there should be a good relationship between the inmates and the officers. This can be ensured by allowing the inmates to exercise the freedom of speech to air their grievances. This will reduce the chances of insecurity issues in the correctional centers.
The restrictions placed on inmates vary greatly with offenders on community supervision. First, offenders under community supervision can enjoy the freedom of privacy while inmates do not enjoy freedom. Offenders under probation have high chances of doing things in privacy compared to inmates. Though probation officers can conduct searches anytime, there are boundaries towards doing the quests. On the other hand, officers can perform searches on inmates at any time and without any restrictions. Second, offenders under probation enjoy the freedom of association without many limitations, but inmates can only exercise this freedom under the supervision of police officers.