Video recordings and cellphone videos have had a significant impact in exposing police abuses and violence. Public demand for transparency of police-citizen interactions has resulted in police dash...

Video recordings and cellphone videos have had a significant impact in exposing police abuses and violence. Public demand for transparency of police-citizen interactions has resulted in police dash cam videos and in some departments that police officers wear body cameras. Nationally, abuse of prison inmates by correctional officers and violence—sometimes resulting in the death of the inmate—are common. It is difficult for inmates to sue prison officials because unlike the police, these abusive or violent encounters are not captured by video or witnesses willing to testify. The American Bar Association (ABA) has called for every state to create an independent government monitoring body for its prisons and jails that reports to the public about conditions in those facilities. The ABA says these monitoring bodies should have unfettered access to prison facilities, staff, inmates and records in announced or unannounced visits. They should also have the power to conduct independent investigations to review complaints and allegations of wrongdoing. The ABA argues that the costs of such an oversight agency would cost much less than the hundreds of millions of dollars paid out in lawsuits stemming from abuse and violence. No state has such an agency. Should federal law mandate independent external oversight of prisons?