Block v. Rutherford (1983)
- Docket
- 83-317
- Decided
- 1983-01-01
Summary
Question: Was the Los Angeles County Central Jail's practice of prohibiting detainees from having contact visits and from being present while their cells were searched reasonably related to a legitimate governmental objective? Conclusion: Yes. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger delivered the opinion for the 6-3 majority. The Court held that Central Jail's policies worked to further the government's reasonable and legitimate interest in ensuring the safety of jail officials and visitors. The Court cited the extensive precedent that gave discretion to prison officials in enacting policies and procedures that they deem necessary to preserve internal order and security. Justice Harry A. Blackmun authored an opinion concurring in the judgment in which he agreed with the approval of Central Jail's policies but disagreed with the majority's willingness to grant judicial deference to jail officials rather than to perform a careful analysis of the inmates' constitutional claims. Justice Thurgood Marshall authored a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the jail officials could not show that allowing low-risk inmates to see their family would "frustrate the achievement of any substantial state interest." Furthermore, Justice Marshall cautioned against the Court's quick deference to the "expertise" of prison administrators and their blanket acceptance of "established state procedure[s]," at the cost of the depriving inmates of their private property. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. and Justice John Paul Stevens joined the dissent.