We Are Not Slaves: Rethinking the Rise of Carceral States through the Lens of the Prisoners' Rights Movement.

PRISONERS' rights; AMERICAN civil rights movement; MASS incarceration; HISTORY of American law; SOUTHERN United States history, 1951-; POLITICAL participation; TWENTIETH century; HISTORY; ACTIONS & defenses (Law); HISTORIOGRAPHY

An essay is presented which discusses the U.S. Southern States prisoners' civil rights movement from the 1960s through the 1990s, commenting on the historiography of mass incarceration in the U.S. (referred to as the carceral state) and the legal struggles of prisoners. An overview of prisoners' lawsuits over their prison conditions, including the Texas prisoner class-action civil rights lawsuit "Ruíz v. Estelle," is provided.