Testing Cruzan: Prisoners and the Constitutional Question of Self-Starvation‪.‬

INTRODUCTION In 1982, a New York court ordered the force-feeding of a prisoner who was attempting starvation to draw attention to the hungry children of the world. (1) Two years later, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire held that, despite inflicting great pain and discomfort, prison officials could continue to feed an inmate with a nasogastric tube. (2) In 1995, the Supreme Court of North Dakota determined that a sixty-four-year-old diabetic prisoner protesting the conditions of his confinement could be forced to undergo treatment after a hunger strike. (3) Soon after, the Second Circuit allowed the unwanted feeding of a civil contemnor in custody for refusing to testify before a grand jury. (4) In all, nearly fifteen state and federal courts have found that prison officials may force-feed a hunger-striking prisoner through highly invasive means.