For more than a decade, the spring issue of the Criminal Justice Review has offered brief summaries of federal court decisions addressing prison, jail, and related corrections and detention issues. The cases summarized in the present issue span the period from autumn 1992 to autumn 1993. The last reporter sources consulted for this survey were 7 F.3d 242 for court of appeals decisions and 832 F.Supp. 1571 for federal district court cases. Recent criminal justice decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, including those in the corrections category, are summarized in each autumn issue of the Review. The goal of this feature has been the same since its inception: to call to the reader's attention those recent cases that would be most likely to merit further study and in-depth analysis in a rapidly evolving area of the law. The cases included in the present survey represent approximately one fourth of those reported in the Federal Reporter and Federal Supplement for the period and topic under review. Thousands of other federal cases that arose during the 12 months under consideration filed by federal, state, and local inmates (the number of filings continues its upward spiral) appeared in the reporters in a list format if at all. In general, the cases contained in the present survey may be considered to be among those that have interest and possible significance beyond that of the typical case. In most of them, the court addressed the merits of factual or legal issues or at least offered more than a cursory analysis of one or more issues that are of interest to criminal justice scholars and practitioners. To the extent that the reported cases create precedent, they are binding only in their respective geographical jurisdictions. However, because this area of the law is still in a formative stage, federal judges often look beyond their own circuits for guidance in reaching decisions. As in previous surveys, the reader is cautioned that some of the decisions summarized herein are on appeal to higher courts and are therefore not necessarily final.