Pervear v. Massachusetts

Pervear v. Massachusetts

Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants = Pervear v. Massachusetts
ArgueDate = April 17
ArgueYear = 1867
DecideDate = April 29
DecideYear = 1867
FullName = Pervear v. the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
USVol = 72
USPage = 475
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Holding =
SCOTUS = 1865-1867
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Overruled = "Jones v. Cunningham", ussc|371|236|1963

"Pervear v. Massachusetts", 72 U.S. (5 Wall.) 475 (1866) was a case brought before the United States Supreme Court in 1866 over the issue of prisoners' rights. The court ruled that prisoners have no constitutional rights, not even Eighth Amendment rights. This was the first case stating the "hands off" policy that allowed states to run their prisons without federal interference. The application of the Bill of Rights to state action did not come until later and then only in part.cite web |author= |year= |month= |url=http://faculty.ncwc.edu/TOCONNOR/294/294lect13.htm |title=Prisoner Rights, Litigation and Constitutional Law |publisher= |accessdate=2007-12-10 ]

At that time in history, the Bill of Rights was seen as a bar to federal interference with state actions, and therefore a means of ensuring federal restraint.

Circumstances

A Massachusetts business owner was convicted and sentenced to the payment of a large fine and to three months of hard labor for failing to have a state license for his liquor store. He tried to invoke the "cruel and unusual punishment" clause of the Eighth Amendment.

Outcome

The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution did not apply to state cases but only to federal issues.cite web |author=
year= |month= |url=http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_bor.html |title=Constitutional Topic: The Bill of Rights |publisher=U.S. Constitution Online |accessdate=2007-12-10 ] Pervear did not take the case further. [cite web |author= |year= |month= |url=http://supreme.justia.com/us/72/475/ |title=Pervear v. The Commonwealth. December term, 1866|publisher=supreme.justia.com
accessdate=2007-12-10 ]

This "hands off" policy was not successfully challenged until 1963 in "Jones v. Cunningham" when Supreme Court ruled that inmates in state institutions could file a writ of habeas corpus challenging the conditions of their imprisonment as well as its legality.

ee also

*List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 72

References

External links

* [http://supreme.justia.com/us/72/475/ PERVEAR v. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, 72 U.S. 475 (1866)]


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