Penn Undergraduate Law Journal
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • Masthead
    • Faculty Advisory Board
    • Partner Journals
    • Sponsors
  • Submissions
  • Full Issues
  • The Roundtable
    • Pre-Law Corner
  • Events
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Apply
    • FAQs
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • Masthead
    • Faculty Advisory Board
    • Partner Journals
    • Sponsors
  • Submissions
  • Full Issues
  • The Roundtable
    • Pre-Law Corner
  • Events
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Apply
    • FAQs

The Roundtable


Welcome to the Roundtable, a forum for incisive commentary and analysis
on cases and developments in law and the legal system.


INTERESTED IN wRITING FOR tHE rOUNDTABLE?

Pennsylvania Prisoners: Playing Music Behind Bars 

4/2/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Nicole Greenstein

Although prisoners forfeit their full Constitutional rights, some rights are so crucial that not even conviction can strip them away. Among these are the rights to due process, equal protection, and, according to inmate Richard Glenn Young, the right to play music behind bars.

Young is no ordinary inmate. While serving a life sentence at the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Graterford in 2002, he was featured in a VH-1 documentary about his independent inmate band that was formed through his prison’s program [1]. Yet after public outcry about the program, Graterford later decided to ban independent inmate bands like Young’s. Instead, inmates could play music individually in certain cells, and perform at “religious services, an annual talent show, and special events as approved by the facility manager” [2].

In the wake of this new policy, Young argued that the elimination of the inmate independent band program violated his First Amendment right to freedom of expression, along with his right to religious freedom under the Establishment Clause [3]. He was unsuccessful, however, and in 2008 the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld the District Court’s ruling against him. Although prisoners do have a right to free expression under the First Amendment, the court held in Young v. Beard that this freedom is limited by the government’s interest in security. 

First Amendment rights for prisoners have long been a contested issue. In Beard v. Banks (2006), the Supreme Court held that prison officials could deny access to newspapers, magazines and photographs to certain inmates [4]. “[I]mprisonment does not automatically deprive a prisoner of certain important constitutional protections, including those of the First Amendment,” Justice Breyer wrote in his majority opinion. However, the Court found that a prisoner’s rights can still be restricted more than those of the general public, so long as the regulations are “‘reasonably related’ to legitimate penological interests” [5].

Following in the footsteps of Beard v. Banks, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Young’s first amendment right to express himself musically, both individually and as part of a band. But for prisoners, the court once again held that this right comes with some fine print. In cases where this freedom of musical expression conflicts with the government’s interest in maintaining security, security triumphs.

Young’s band became endangered when the music program grew faster than the prison’s resources could accommodate. Nearly every weekday, up to 60 inmates would disperse among three different floors in the auditorium area to rehearse. Due to this multi-floor, multi-room layout, the only feasible form of supervision was for prison administrators to peak their heads in “once every twenty or thirty minutes” [6]. After conducting an investigation, administrators concluded that the lack of supervision of the program created an unsafe environment for inmates.  Rather than waiting for a dangerous situation to arise, the District Court held that the prison could be proactive in restricting rehearsals.

Despite the prison’s decision to end the independent band program, alternative options still existed for prisoners to exercise their right to free expression. Inmates could still play music individually in their cells, take music classes, and even perform as a band at the talent show and special events. This availability of alternatives also led the federal appellate court to reject Young’s Establishment Clause argument, since the prison offered both religious and secular outlets for musical expression.

Although eliminating the independent band program did not violate Young’s freedom of expression, this is not to say that music rehabilitation has no place in prisons. The Arts Alliance, an organization that works with 40,000 individuals in the U.K. criminal justice system anually, found that arts-based interventions help rehabilitate prisoners. "Taking part in music workshops in prison was life changing,” said one Arts Alliance participant, “It was the first time that I started to make positive choices for myself; it began to change the way I think in a very deep way." [7].

Music rehabilitation is certainly a new frontier that merits exploration. While it’s true that prisoners retain a right to expression, however, this freedom must be expressed without undermining security. As Young and his band mates are now well aware, there is a delicate balance between preserving safety and protecting a prisoner’s right to expression.

[1] Richard Glenn Young. v. Jeffrey Beard, Commissioner Department of Corrections, 04-CV-02211 1,3 (United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 2008).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Beard, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Banks, 548 U. S. 1, 1 (2006).
[5] Ibid.
[6] Richard Glenn Young. v. Jeffrey Beard, Commissioner Department of Corrections, 04-CV-02211 1, 8 (United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 2008).
[7] Robertson, Tim. “Arts in Prison: Why Cut Our Chance to Create Crime-free Futures?” The Guardian. Theguardian.com. 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.  <http://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals-blog/2013/nov/25/arts-rehab-crime-criminal-justice>


Photo Credit: Flickr user foreverdigital (Jenn Vargas)
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    Akshita Tiwary
    Alana Bess
    Alana Mattei
    Albert Manfredi
    Alexander Saeedy
    Alexandra Aaron
    Alexandra Kanan
    Alice Giannini
    Alicia Augustin
    Alicia Kysar
    Ally Kalishman
    Ally Margolis
    Alya Abbassian
    Anika Prakash
    Anna Schwartz
    Ashley Kim
    Astha Pandey
    Audrey Pan
    Benjamin Ng'aru
    Brónach Rafferty
    Bryce Klehm
    Cary Holley
    Christina Gunzenhauser
    Christine Mitchell
    Christopher Brown
    Clarissa Alvarez
    Cole Borlee
    Connor Gallagher
    Dan Spinelli
    Dan Zhang
    David Katz
    Davis Berlind
    Derek Willie
    Dhilan Lavu
    Edgar Palomino
    Edna Simbi
    Ella Sohn
    Emma Davies
    Esther Lee
    Evelyn Bond
    Filzah Belal
    Frank Geng
    Gabriel Maliha
    Georgia Ray
    Graham Reynolds
    Habib Olapade
    Hailie Goldsmith
    Haley Son
    Harshit Rai
    Henry Lininger
    Hetal Doshi
    Iris Zhang
    Irtaza Ali
    Isabela Baghdady
    Ishita Chakrabarty
    Jack Burgess
    Jessica "Lulu" Lipman
    Joe Anderson
    Jonathan Lahdo
    Jonathan Stahl
    Joseph Squillaro
    Justin Yang
    Kaitlyn Rentala
    Kanishka Bhukya
    Katie Kaufman
    Kelly Liang
    Keshav Sharma
    Ketaki Gujar
    Lauren Pak
    Lavi Ben Dor
    Libby Rozbruch
    Lindsey Li
    Luis Bravo
    Lyndsey Reeve
    Madeline Decker
    Maja Cvjetanovic
    Maliha Farrooz
    Marco DiLeonardo
    Margaret Lu
    Matthew Caulfield
    Michael Keshmiri
    Mina Nur Basmaci
    Muskan Mumtaz
    Natalie Peelish
    Natasha Darlington
    Natasha Kang
    Nayeon Kim
    Nicholas Parsons
    Nicholas Williams
    Nicole Greenstein
    Nihal Sahu
    Omar Khoury
    Owen Voutsinas Klose
    Owen Voutsinas-Klose
    Pheby Liu
    Rachel Bina
    Rachel Gu
    Rachel Pomerantz
    Rebecca Heilweil
    Regina Salmons
    Sajan Srivastava
    Sandeep Suresh
    Sanjay Dureseti
    Sarah Simon
    Saranya Das Sharma
    Saranya Sharma
    Sasha Bryski
    Saxon Bryant
    Sean Foley
    Sebastian Bates
    Serena Camici
    Shahana Banerjee
    Shannon Alvino
    Shiven Sharma
    Siddarth Sethi
    Sneha Parthasarathy
    Sneha Sharma
    Sophie Lovering
    Steven Jacobson
    Suaida Firoze
    Suprateek Neogi
    Takane Shoji
    Tanner Bowen
    Taryn MacKinney
    Thomas Cribbins
    Todd Costa
    Tyler Larkworthy
    Vatsal Patel
    Vikram Balasubramanian
    Vishwajeet Deshmukh
    Wajeeha Ahmad
    Yeonhwa Lee

    Archives

    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

Picture
Picture
​