Constitutional baseline
Inmates retain First, Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights, but courts apply them with significant deference to facility security. The First Amendment protects core religious practice, attorney communication, and limited correspondence. The Fourth Amendment offers very little protection from cell or body searches. The Eighth Amendment forbids cruel and unusual punishment, which courts have read to require basic medical care, protection from known violence, and minimum sanitation. The Fourteenth Amendment requires due process before significant disciplinary punishment.
Medical care
Facilities must provide care for "serious medical needs" — anything a doctor would treat or that an ordinary lay person would recognize as requiring care. Inmates request care through a sick-call slip; chronic conditions (diabetes, hypertension, mental illness) are followed in chronic-care clinics. Co-pays of $2 to $8 per visit are charged at most state and federal facilities. Co-pay non-payment cannot lawfully be the basis for refusing care.
Religious practice
Under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), facilities must accommodate religious practice unless doing so would impose a substantial burden and the restriction is the least-restrictive means of furthering a compelling interest. In practice this protects diet (halal, kosher, vegan), prayer time, religious texts, and grooming standards (beards, head coverings) for major faiths.
Related: trusted reentry directory.
The grievance system
Every facility has an internal grievance process — and the federal Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) requires inmates to exhaust it before filing in court. The federal BP-9/BP-10/BP-11 sequence is typical: file at the institution, appeal to the regional office, appeal to central office, then sue. State systems use similar three-step processes. Keep copies of every form filed; missing paperwork is the most common reason a federal lawsuit is dismissed.
Related: family support resources.
Talking to staff and family
Phone calls to non-attorneys are recorded and may be reviewed by investigators. Mail to non-attorneys is opened and read. Visiting rooms are monitored. Communications with attorneys (legal mail, attorney calls registered with the facility, attorney visits) are confidential by law and may not be reviewed.
Related: prison consulting services.
When something goes seriously wrong
If you believe an inmate is being denied medical care, has been assaulted by staff, or is being held in conditions that risk serious harm, contact the facility warden in writing, request a wellness check from the regional office (or state DOC inspector), and consider contacting the local ACLU affiliate. For federal facilities, the Office of the Inspector General accepts complaints at oig.justice.gov.