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Subject Area: Law
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

§ 43.: Imprisonment for crime—Hard labor—Control of convicts in prison.— - Christopher G. Tiedeman, A Treatise on State and Federal Control of Persons and Property in the United States considered from both a Civil and Criminal Standpoint, vol. 1 [1900]

Edition used:

A Treatise on State and Federal Control of Persons and Property in the United States considered from both a Civil and Criminal Standpoint (St. Louis: The F.H. Thomas Law Book Co., 1900). Vol. 1.

Part of: A Treatise on State and Federal Control of Persons and Property in the United States considered from both a Civil and Criminal Standpoint, 2 vols.

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§ 43.

Imprisonment for crime—Hard labor—Control of convicts in prison.—

The most common mode of punishment for crime at the present day is confinement in some jail or penitentiary. The liberty of the convict is thus taken away for a specified period, the length of which is graded according to the gravity of the offense committed. What shall be the proper amount of imprisonment to be imposed as a reasonable punishment for a particular crime is a matter of legislative discretion, limited only by the vague and uncertain constitutional limitation, which prohibits the infliction of “cruel and unusual punishments.”2 Within the walls of the prison the convict must conduct himself in an orderly manner, and conform his actions to the ordinary prison regulations. If he should violate any of these regulations, he may be subjected to an appropriate punishment, and for serious cases of insubordination, corporal punishment is very often inflicted, even in those States in which the whipping-post has been abolished.3

For minor offenses, it is usual to confine the criminal in the county jail, and the punishment consists only of a deprivation of one’s liberty. But for more serious and graver offenses, the statutes provide for the incarceration of the convict in the penitentiary, where he is required to perform hard labor for the benefit of the State. The product of his labor is taken by the State in payment of the cost of his maintenance. It cannot be doubted that the State has a constitutional right to require its convicts to work during their confinement, and there has never been any question raised against the constitutionality of such regulations.1 The penitentiary system is now a well-recognized feature of European and American penology.

[2]As to the meaning of this limitation, see ante, §§ 11, 12.

[3]See ante, § 13. It is lawful for the legislature to provide for the reduction in the term of service as a reward for good conduct, and this provision creates in the convicts a vested right, which cannot be taken away by subsequent legislation. In re Canfield, 98 Mich. 644. This is, likewise, the case with the provision for letting convicts out on their parole, in the discretion of the prison board, and their subsequent discharge from further custody, upon their continued maintenance of their record for good behavior for a stated period. George v. People, 167 Ill. 417.

[1]See City of Topeka v. Boutwell, 53 Kan. 20, where the question was raised but decided in favor of the regulations. See, also, Bronk v. Barckley, 13 App. Div. 72; 43 N. Y. S. 400, where the right to compel convicts to work for the profit of the State, and to regulate, limit and control such work, was not only conceded; but it was further held that, where the managers of a State prison had made a contract for convict labor, such contract cannot be impaired by subsequent constitutional or statutory legislation, limiting or prohibiting such convict labor.