What “triggers” federal court intervention in prison reform litigation? The authors present a causal model of federal judicial intervention in the prison reform litigation of 48 states (all except Alaska and Hawaii). From analysis of variables posited by numerous qualitative case studies to be critical, the causal model indicates that federal court intervention in state prison systems can be correlated to various factors, including political ideology, socioeconomic factors, and the “problem environment” of state prison conditions. The authors offer the analysis in the hope that it will stimulate additional discussion of the jurisprudence and behavior of federal judicial intervention in prison reform litigation.
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