Orrin Hatch: “Our amendment is virtually identical to the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, S. 1279, which we introduced…”

“Our amendment is virtually identical to the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, S. 1279, which we introduced yesterday. This landmark legislation will help bring relief to a civil justice system overburdened by frivolous prisoner lawsuits. Jailhouse lawyers with little better to do are tying our courts in knots with the endless flow of frivolous litigation. Our legislation will also help to restore a balance to prison conditions litigation and will ensure that Federal court orders are limited to remedying actual violations of prisoners' rights, not letting prisoners out of jail. It is time to lock the revolving prison door and to put the key safely out of reach of overzealous Federal courts. As of January 1994, 24 corrections agencies reported having court-mandated population caps. Nearly every day, we hear of vicious crimes committed by individuals who really should have been locked up. Not all of these tragedies are the result of court-ordered population caps, of course, but such caps are a part of the problem. While prison conditions that actually violate the Constitution should not be allowed to persist, I believe that the courts have gone too far in micromanaging our Nation's prisons.”