Deck 6: Rights to Rehabilitation and Medical Care

Question 1

Rehabilitation programs are considered essential by virtually all penologists if which of the following factors is evident?

A) Financial benefit
B) The safety of the institution by reducing prisoner boredom
C) The reduction of the incidence of crime
D) There is enough trained personnel

Answer 1

The reduction of the incidence of crime

Question 2

In __________, the Seventh Circuit recognized implicitly that consent may not always be genuine when prisoners participate in rehabilitation programs.

A) Holt v. Sarver
B) James v. Wallace
C) Alberti v. Sheriff of Harrison County, Texas
D) McGee v. Aaron

Answer 2

McGee v. Aaron

Question 3

Which two groups of persons have courts held have a right to treatment?

A) The mentally ill and elderly
B) The mentally ill and sex offenders
C) The elderly and sex offenders
D) None of the above

Answer 3

The mentally ill and sex offenders

Question 4

Under which Amendment do mentally deficient persons have protected rights in reasonably safe conditions of confinement and freedom from unreasonable bodily restraints?

A) The Fourteenth Amendment
B) The Fourth Amendment
C) The First Amendment
D) The Fifteenth Amendment

Question 5

In __________, the Court ruled that a state's interest in prison safety and security is sufficient to allow involuntary administration of antipsychotic drugs.

A) McGee v. Aaron
B) Washington v. Harper
C) Estelle v. Gamble
D) Anderson v. Romero

Question 6

Which of the following are examples of complaints about medical treatment?

A) Adequacy and nature of medical care received
B) Total denial of medical care
C) Prison official's conduct towards medical care
D) All of the above

Question 7

In Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Union, the Supreme Court stated the restriction of union members to solicit is not a violation of __________, and prohibiting bulk mailing is not a violation of __________.

A) The First Amendment; the First Amendment
B) The Fourteenth Amendment; the Due Process Clause
C) The First Amendment; the Equal Protection Clause
D) The Equal Protection Clause; the Fourteenth Amendment

Question 8

Which court case established the standard for what treatment rises to cruel and unusual punishment?

A) McGee v. Aaron
B) Washington v. Harper
C) Estelle v. Gamble
D) Anderson v. Romero

Question 9

All of the following are examples of considerations for why prison officials can refuse medical treatment EXCEPT:

A) Likely to be expensive
B) Likely to be a disruptive influence
C) Likely to be detrimental to the order of the prison
D) Likely to be detrimental to the effective administration of the prison

Question 10

Various U.S. Courts of Appeal have ruled that a state does not inflict cruel and unusual punishment by declining what medical need?

A) Chemotherapy
B) Sex reassignment surgery
C) Hormone-replacement
D) Brain surgery

Question 11

Which court case addressed prisoners' right to confidentiality regarding medical issues?

A) McGee v. Aaron
B) Washington v. Harper
C) Estelle v. Gamble
D) Anderson v. Romero

Question 12

The __________ forbids the state to punish people for a physical condition, and the __________ forbids the state to treat one group worse than another.

A) The Due Process Clause; the First Amendment
B) The Equal Protection Clause; the First Amendment
C) The Eighth Amendment; the Equal Protection Clause
D) The Eighth Amendment; the Due Process Clause

Question 13

In O'Connor v. Donaldson, the Supreme Court refused to decide whether mental patients have a constitutional right to treatment.

Question 14

Prisons can deny all medical aid to prisoners if they deem it necessary.

Question 15

There is an absolute right to rehabilitation while incarcerated.

Question 16

Federal rights in medical treatment cases include the protection of the intentional denial of needed care, and to be free from an abuse of discretion on the part of prison administrators.

Question 17

In Washington v. Harper, the Court observed that a prisoner is not protected from the administration of antipsychotic drugs.

Question 18

Prisoners must have all the necessary information to make an informed decision regarding their medical treatment under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Question 19

The Supreme Court has ruled on cases regarding transsexual and transgender inmates' medical needs.

Question 20

The reality is that no "voluntary" program in prison is truly free from coercion.

Question 21

The Supreme Court has not yet rendered a decision clarifying the law in the area of when a complaint alleging inadequate medical treatment is sufficient to state a cause of action for deprivation of a federal right.

Question 22

If prison officials disseminated humiliating but phenologically irrelevant details of a prisoner's medical history, their action may violate the Eighth Amendment rather than violating the Fourteenth Amendment.

Question 23

The highest level that transsexual and transgender cases have reached is the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

Question 24

According to the text, the probability that treatment programs may soon be judicially required is highly unlikely.

Question 25

For each of the scenarios below, use the case law presented in this chapter to discuss whether the courts would find a violation.
● A doctor did not inform a prisoner of two broken pins in their hip that might require surgery.
● A dentist subjected a prisoner to dental work without anesthesia because delaying the treatment would cause more pain.
● A prisoner is being treated for chronic rhinitis, and requests to be transferred to a prison facility in a dry area that will help the treatment of his illness, but the prison facility denies the prisoner's request.

Question 26

Summarize the ruling of Estelle v. Gamble, and discuss its importance in future rulings.

Question 27

Discuss the courts' stance on rehabilitation programs in prisons.