How have courts treated allegations of cruel and unusual punishment in the context of overcrowding in prisons?

Relying on Brown v. Plata (2011) __U.S._ 131 S.Ct. 1910, in which the United States Supreme Court described the substandard conditions in the state's prison system due to "exceptional" overcrowding (id. at p. 1923), defendant claims that the conditions under which he will serve his sentence amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Of course, any complaint about the conditions of his confinement are premature, absent any evidence regarding the actual conditions he experiences. This is especially true in light

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