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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 26, 1992                   TAG: 9202260134
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

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COURT LIMITS USE OF FORCE ON INMATES

The Supreme Court put new restrictions on prison guards' use of force to control unruly inmates, saying Tuesday that it is unconstitutional for guards to cause pain intentionally even if no serious injury results.

The ruling came on a 7-2 vote, with Justice Clarence Thomas issuing a strongly worded dissent that laid out a deeply conservative view of prisoners' rights.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, in the court's main opinion, said that it always would be unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment "when prison officials maliciously and sadistically use force to cause harm" while trying to subdue an inmate. - The Baltimore Sun

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