Resistance

Collective Resistance

The most well-known strategy of collective resistance is the riot. Though often triggered by a relatively minor incident, disturbances such as the infamous 1980 New Mexico State Penitentiary riot, in which 33 prisoners perished, often erupt into violence. In some extreme cases, prisoners attempt to assume control of the institution to publicize conditions and negotiate concessions. Although riots certainly draw public attention to prison conditions, this tactic may reinforce rather than undermine the institution's dominance. Prison disturbances rarely result in substantive changes to prison conditions and are frequently counterproductive, leading to sanctions and justifying enhanced regulatory measures to prevent future uprising. They also reinforce the belief that prisoners are violent, dangerous individuals who require a punitive carceral environment devoid of even basic privileges.

Less dramatic, although perhaps more effective, are the many peaceful forms of collective resistance. Foremost among these is the use of litigation by prisoners to acquire their constitutional or civil rights. Although the American judiciary's willingness to intervene has decreased substantially since the Ragen era and has been further undermined by the 1996 Prison Litigation Reform Act, prisoners continue to employ both state and federal constitutional guarantees, including the protection against cruel and unusual punishment (U.S. Constitution, Eighth Amendment) and the right to due process (U.S. Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment). Challenges to racial, gender, and religious discrimination have also used the provision guaranteeing equal protection under the law (U.S. Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment) and civil rights legislation. Alternately, prisoners can appeal to national or international organizations such as Amnesty International or the United Nations to mobilize support against penal excess. For example, Human Rights Watch has drawn international attention to the widespread sexual assault of women prisoners by male guards in U.S. state prisons.

Collective resistance to prison conditions can also take the form of peaceful political action. These may be well-organized symbolic demonstrations such as the annual “Prison Justice Day” (August 10), when, in a day of fasting, work stoppage, and commemorative services, prisoners in many parts of the United States and Canada remember those who have died in prison and make a stand for prisoner rights. Alternatively, collective resistance may take the form of spontaneous prisoner movements in response to the implementation of a new policy or practice. For example, Mary Bosworth (1999) recounts how women prisoners in [Page 845]one British prison, after unsuccessfully attempting to challenge the introduction of new, extremely coarse toilet paper through theft and protest, were able to successfully draw on their gender identity and needs as women to pressure the institution to reverse its decision.

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