Hudson v. Palmer 1984

• Author: Daniel Brannen, Richard Hanes, Elizabeth Shaw
• Pages: 471-475

Contenidos

• Shakedown.
• Struck Down.
• Imprisoning Property Rights.
• Suggestions for further reading.

Page 471

Petitioner: Ted S. Hudson

Respondent: Russel Thomas Palmer. Jr.

Petitioner's Claim: That the Fourth Amendment does not apply to prison inmates.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner: William G. Broaddus, Deputy Attorney General of Virginia

Chief Lawyer for Respondent: Deborah C. Wyatt

Justices for the Court: Warren E. Burger, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting: Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, John Paul Stevens

Date of Decision: July 3, 1984

Decision: The Supreme Court said the Fourth Amendment does not apply to prison inmates.

Significance: After Hudson, prisoners who are treated unfairly during cell searches must sue under state law to recover their damages.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects privacy. It requires searches and seizures by the government to be reasonable. In most cases, law enforcement officers must get a warrant to search a house or other private place for evidence of a crime. To get a warrant,

Page 472

officers must have probable cause, which means good reason to believe the place to be searched has evidence of a crime. Requiring law enforcement officers to get a warrant prevents them from harassing people for no good reason. In Hudson v. Palmer, the U.S. Supreme Court had to decide whether the Fourth Amendment protects prisoners in their jail cells.

Shakedown

Russel Thomas Palmer, Jr,. was an inmate at the Bland Correctional Center in Bland, Virginia. Palmer was serving sentences for forgery, grand larceny (theft), and bank robbery convictions. Ted S. Hudson was an officer at the correctional center.

On September 16, 1981, Hudson and a fellow officer searched Palmer's prison locker and cell. They were looking for contraband, which means illegal items such as weapons. During the search they found a ripped prison pillow case in a trash can near Palmer's bed. The prison filed a disciplinary charge against Palmer for destroying state property. Palmer was found guilty. The prison forced him to pay for the pillow case and entered a reprimand on his prison record.

Afterwards, Palmer filed a lawsuit against Hudson. He said Hudson searched his cell just to harass him. Palmer accused Hudson of destroying some of Palmer's personal property during the search. Palmer said the harassing and destructive search violated...