Rhode Island Supreme Court cites Professor Chin in decision rooted in ‘civil death’ laws

The Rhode Island Supreme Court cited Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin in ruling against a man serving life in prison who had sued the state regarding an attack by a fellow inmate. The court ruled that the man lacks rights because he is considered “dead” under state law.

The court cited Chin’s 2011 article “The New Civil Death: Rethinking Punishment in the Era of Mass Conviction,” which lays out the history of “civil death” laws that stripped inmates of civil rights as part of their punishment. Chin’s article argued that although “civil death” laws mostly have faded away, the idea exists more surreptitiously today in the form of the permanent, substantial change in legal status that occurs to people convicted of crimes.

But literal “civil death” statutes still exist in New York, the Virgin Islands and Rhode Island, whose Supreme Court cited the law when it ruled in early May against inmate Dana Gallop, in Gallop v. Adult Correctional Institutions. Changing the law would be up to Rhode Island legislators, the court said.

Gabriel "Jack" Chin is Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Law and holder of the Edward L. Barrett, Jr. Endowed Chair at UC Davis School of Law. He is a prolific and much-cited criminal and immigration law scholar whose work has addressed many of the most pressing social issues of our time.