Prison Food Law

Abstract

This paper examines the history and current framework of prison food law. Whereas food law generally is the result of a complex maze of national, state, and local statutory and regulatory law, prison food is primarily regulated by the courts through adjudication of the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. This discrepancy is explained by the very different political realities faced by prison reform. At the same time, the result is both ineffective and counterproductive. The lack of serious legislation on the issue means that the law is written anyway, only it is done by courts that lack the requisite expertise and resources to do so competently.