by Anne Morrison Piehl & Margo Schlanger
Abstract
This article uses panel data estimation techniques to examine the relation
between the number of federal court civil filings by inmates and jail and
state prison populations (and, hence, the relation between jail and prison
inmate filing rates) both before and after the effective date, in 1996,
of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). The research issue matters
for several reasons. First, the amount of litigation by inmates is a crucial
component of the regulatory regime governing jails and prisons and thus
what factors drive filings, and by how much, deserves close attention and
assessment. In addition, the PLRA was a major congressional attempt to
control and ration litigation; understanding its effects in finer gauge
seems itself worthwhile. Finally, we hope to show, methodologically, how
research about litigation rates can be carried out sensitively, even if
the litigation results from case filings by two separate populations. We
make three major findings. (1) As expected, inmate filings vary positively
with prison population. However, the relationship with jail population
is less secure. (2) As the prison proportion of inmates in a particular
state increases, so too does the number of filings. (3) The PLRA’s passage
has significantly lessened but not eliminated this prison proportion effect.|
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