The Expansion and Contraction of Rights: Through the Eyes of Justice Marshall

• Published in: The Supreme Court and the Development of Law pp. 37 - 59
• Main Author: Smith, Christopher E
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United States Palgrave Macmillan 2016; Palgrave Macmillan US
• Subjects: Conditions of confinement; Crime & criminology; Eighth Amendment; Prison law libraries; Prison medical care; Prisoners’ rights; Supreme Court; Thurgood Marshall
• DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-56763-5_3
• ISBN: 9781137567628; 1137567627

Justice Thurgood Marshall served on the Supreme Court as it made its first decisions defining prisoners’ rights at the end of the 1960s. He played a key role in the expansion of rights by writing majority opinions establishing a right of access to prison law libraries (Bounds v. Smith 1977) and applying the Eighth Amendment to prison conditions in the establishment of a limited right to medical care (Estelle v. Gamble 1976). Marshall subsequently remained on the Court as its composition changed and new justices acted to limit rights for imprisoned offenders. Marshall’s Supreme Court career illustrates the rise and contraction of prisoners’ rights within the span of two decades.