Charging Inmates for Medical Care: A Legal,Practical,and Ethical Critique

Abstract

Charging inmates for some or all of the medical services they receive while incarcerated is a growing trend in correctional health care in both prisons and jails. This article explores the legality of such practice under the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment" in the United States’ Constitution, as well as the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. It also presents some of the practical and ethical considerations to be weighed in adopting such a system. In summary, I conclude that, while a carefully crafted program of charging inmates for medical care will withstand court scrutiny, it has not been shown that sound practical and ethical considerations support the adoption of such a system.

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