In 1992 Roy Clendinen, then an inmate at the Mohawk Correctional Facility near Syracuse, New York, filed a million-dollar lawsuit claiming "cruel and unusual" punishment for incidents stemming from a guard's refusal to refrigerate the prisoner's ice cream.

Another New York inmate, ulcer-suffering Reginald Troy of the Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Wallkill, also sued. He claimed it was unconstitutional not to provide him lamb, veal and oysters for his meals—foods allowed, but not prescribed, by his doctor.

Although 97 percent of prisoners' suits in federal court are dismissed before trial, there were still 33,000 in 1993, about 15 percent of all federal civil suits, and up from just a few hundred in the 1960s. New York State Attorney G. Oliver Koppell estimated that it takes 20 percent of his department's resources to defend against such suits.

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