Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
Abstract
An incarcerated American underclass, disproportionately comprised of minority citizens, has been compelled to live in an unconstitutionally polluted environment. Exposure to radon gas in indoor air is just one example of that pollution. Fortunately, the legal effort to address that particular condition of confinement has already begun; the theoretical and practical discussion in this work strives to both highlight the importance of the issue and inform the doctrinal development. The Eighth Amendment precedent created on the specific issue of radon exposure will very likely control the courts’ treatment of other environmental harms ignored by prison officials. This work, using radon exposure litigation as a case study, explains how environmental harms in prisons threaten lives and violate the Constitution.
Publication Title
Harvard Environmental Law Review
Volume
45
Issue
2
Article Number
1143
First Page
333
Last Page
376
Suggested Bluebook Citation
Anthony Moffa, Environmental Indifference, 45 HARV. ENVTL. L. REV. 333 (2021).