Supreme Court decisions affecting prisoners' rights assumed special importance during the Rehnquist Court era (1986 to 2005) because rapidly expanding prison populations placed more individuals' daily lives under the influence of corrections law. Substantive legal analysis reveals that the Rehnquist Court produced important decisions establishing new analytical tests that helped to guide lower court decisions and counteracted previous expansions of prisoners' rights. In particular, the Rehnquist Court's tests emphasized deference to corrections officials, significant proof thresholds for Eighth Amendment claims, and strict standing requirements for access-to-courts claims.
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