Table Of ContentPraise for Appealing to Justice
“ Calavita and Jenness provide a subtly textured and grounded account
displaying the contradictions of late-modern society, where legal process and
civil rights grow apace alongside an ever-enlarging sphere of punishment and
control. A beautifully written, compelling, and heartbreaking account of the
promise and failure of the rule of law; there is no one better able to tell the
story of these prisoners.”
Susan S. Silbey, Leon and Anne Goldberg Professor of Sociology
and Anthropology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“ Appealing to Justice provides unique insight into contemporary ‘hyperlegal’
American prisons, analyzing two striking paradoxes: a majority of California
prisoners fi le formal grievances despite likely staff retaliation and only a
minute chance of success; administrators at all levels offer strong support of
prisoners’ rights in general, yet almost invariably deny specifi c complaints.
The workings of these paradoxes reveal both the deep tensions between legal
rights and carceral control and the profound asymmetry of dispute
processing in this distinctive total institution.”
Robert M. Emerson, Professor Emeritus of Sociology,
University of California, Los Angeles
“ Jenness and Calavita dispel myths about inmate complaints while capturing
surprisingly candid staff comments regarding their mission, inmate rights,
and the incarcerated. A must-read for those seeking to understand inmate
rights and the need for an independent complaint process. Time for a change?
I think so.”
Jeanne Woodford, Former Undersecretary of the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and Senior Fellow,
Chief Justice Earl Warren Center, University of California Berkeley
School of Law
“ A study of grievance procedures in prisons, Appealing to Justice is also much
more. It informs us what it means to be a prison inmate and what it means to
be a correctional offi cer and administrator. It is at once profoundly
depressing and uplifting. Do not look for simple solutions in this book; it is
fi lled with complicated truths.”
Malcolm M. Feeley, Claire Sanders Clements Dean’s
Professor, Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program,
University of California, Berkeley
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“ Drawing on fi rst-person witness accounts of how legal-rights and carceral
logics collide inside the CDCR, this study offers more convincing evidence of
the unworkably (con)fused legal, ethical, psychological, social, and
institutional cultures of prison—both for incarcerated people and for prison
workers—than any number of other studies. Top-rate interdisciplinary
scholarship, thoughtful analysis, and smart, sensitive fi eld study make
Appealing to Justice a powerful exploration of how diffi cult tough-on-crime
legislation has made it to run prisons that are both safe and just.”
Doran Larson, Director of the American Prison Writing
Archive and the Program in Jurisprudence, Law, and
Justice Studies, Hamilton College
“ Through engaging prose and evocative evidence, Calavita and Jenness
demonstrate how the legal consciousness of prisoners and prison offi cials
reveals and reinforces the incoherence of imprisonment.”
Rosemary Gartner, Professor of Criminology, University of Toronto
“ This compelling book provides both an illuminating account of life inside
twenty-fi rst century American prisons and a pathbreaking analysis of
disputing processes in an uncommon place of law. The authors skillfully
weave together complex information from interviews and documentary
sources to demonstrate powerfully that people in a repressive environment,
utilizing a hollow and unresponsive formal process, can nevertheless
courageously maintain an insistent rights consciousness.”
George Lovell, Harry Bridges Endowed Chair in Labor Studies,
Professor and Chair of Political Science, University of Washington
Calavita-9780520284173.indd b
Appealing to Justice
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Appealing to Justice
Prisoner Grievances, Rights, and
Carceral Logic
Kitty Calavita and
Valerie Jenness
university of california press
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University of California Press, one of the most
distinguished university presses in the United States,
enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship
in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and
by philanthropic contributions from individuals and
institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2015 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Calavita, Kitty, author.
Appealing to justice : prisoner grievances, rights, and
carceral logic / Kitty Calavita and Valerie Jenness.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-520-28417-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-520-28418-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-520-95983-5 (ebook)
1. Grievance procedures for prisoners—California. 2.
Prisoners—Civil rights—California. 3. Prisoners—
California—Social conditions. 4. Prisons—Law and
legislation—California. I. Jenness, Valerie, 1963–
author. II. Title.
hv9475.c2.c295 2015
365′.64—dc23 2014028928
Manufactured in the United States of America
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In keeping with a commitment to support
environmentally responsible and sustainable printing
practices, UC Press has printed this book on Natures
Natural, a fi ber that contains 30% post-consumer waste
and meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso
z39.48-1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper).
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To Nico and Vickie
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Contents
List of Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
1. Introduction: Rights, Captivity, and Disputing
behind Bars 1
2. “Needles,” “Haystacks,” and “Dead Watchdogs”:
The Prison Litigation Reform Act and the Inmate
Grievance System in California 24
3. Naming, Blaming, and Claiming in an Uncommon
Place of Law 49
4. Prisoners’ Counternarratives: “This Is a Prison and
It’s Not Disneyland” 80
5. “Narcissists,” “Liars,” Process, and Paper:
The Dilemmas and Solutions of Grievance Handlers 97
6. Administrative Consistency, Downstream
Consequences, and “Knuckleheads” 130
7. Grievance Narratives as Frames of Meaning, Profi les
of Power 150
8. Conclusion 182
Appendix A: Procedures for Interviews with Prisoners 195
Appendix B: Procedures for Interviews with CDCR Personnel 198
Appendix C: Coding the Sample of Grievances 200
Cases 203
Notes 205
References 223
Index 237
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