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Dissertation Information for Bradley Stewart Chilton

NAME:
- Bradley Stewart Chilton

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Political Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Georgia (USA) (1988)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: Guthrie v Evans: Civil rights, prison reform, and institutional reform litigation

Abstract: "The dissertation sought systematically to understand the nature of institutional reform litigation in the context of the 14-year-long Guthrie v Evans lawsuit at the Georgia State Prison (GSP) in Reidsville, Georgia. The analysis relied on archival data in Guthrie and descriptions of comparative cases in the literature, but most extensively on data gathered in focused interviews with key decision makers. The analysis focused on four important questions: First, who were the key decision makers and how did they perceive the case and underlying issues? Second, how did the budget for GSP change in the course of litigation and what were the important factors in that process? Third, what were the major remedies undertaken and how did settlement patterns change in the course of the litigation? Finally, what rights undergirded the Guthrie litigation and what does this tell us about institutional reform litigation?

The dissertation identified several factors important to an understanding of Guthrie and other institutional reform litigation. First, the judge served as a catalyst, not controller, to key decision makers that included plaintiff's counsel, state assistant attorneys general, corrections officials, and court-appointed special masters and monitors, but excluded inmates. In this regard, the judge sped a change in the maximum security prison that would not otherwise have occurred, given legislative and bureaucratic inertia. In this change, the key decision makers negotiated, formulated, and oversaw the implementation of remedial decrees. Second, the abrupt increases in state budget allocations to GSP were due to consent decrees and stipulations of the defendant-state, merely approved by the judge. Third, after attempts at pre-trial dismissal, mediation, and litigation, detailed remedial decrees were secured in Guthrie only after state officials made a commitment to the judge to negotiate settlement. Finally, the remedial decrees fashioned by key decision makers were highly specific, not because violations or rights were identified in every area, but out of an understanding of these basic civil rights in light of recent trends in prison practices and technology. A comparative understanding of Guthrie and directions for future research were also presented."

MPACT Scores for Bradley Stewart Chilton

A = 0
C = 3
A+C = 3
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2009-05-26 10:16:02

Advisors and Advisees Graph