Treating Inmates as Moral Agents: A Defense of the Right to Privacy in Prison

Criminal Justice Ethics 33 (1):1-20 (2014)
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Abstract

This paper addresses the question of prison inmates' right to privacy from an ethical perspective. I argue that the right to privacy is important because of its connection to moral agency and that the protection of privacy is warranted by different established philosophical theories about the justification of legal punishment. I discuss the practical implications of this argument by addressing two potential problems. First, how much privacy should be allowed during imprisonment in order to meet the criteria of respecting inmates as moral agents? Second, how should the conflict between privacy and other rights, including the rights of the public and the prison staff, as well as those of the prison inmates, be handled? Consequently, from an ethical perspective, the invasion of privacy should be minimized to the greatest extent possible without compromising other important values and rights to safety and security. In defending this position, I argue that respect for inmates' privacy should be part of the objective of creating and upholding a secure environment to better effect in the long run.

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William Bülow O'Nils
Uppsala University

References found in this work

The moral education theory of punishment.Jean Hampton - 1984 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 13 (3):208-238.
Punishment, communication and community.Antony Duff - 2002 - In Derek Matravers & Jonathan E. Pike (eds.), Debates in Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology. Routledge, in Association with the Open University.
Ethics and the Rule of Law.David Lyons - 1983 - New York: Cambridge University Press.

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