Cite as: 518 U. S. 343 (1996)
Thomas, J., concurring
are complex and intractable, and, more to the point, they are not readily susceptible of resolution by decree. Most require expertise, comprehensive planning, and the commitment of resources, all of which are peculiarly within the province of the legislative and executive branches of government. For all of those reasons, courts are ill equipped to deal with the increasingly urgent problems of prison administration and reform. Judicial recognition of that fact reflects no more than a healthy sense of realism. Moreover, where state penal institutions are involved, federal courts have a further reason for deference to the appropriate prison authorities." Id., at 404-405 (footnotes omitted).8
State prisons should be run by the state officials with the expertise and the primary authority for running such institutions. Absent the most "extraordinary circumstances," Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc., 433 U. S. 119, 137 (1977) (Burger, C. J., concurring), federal courts should refrain from meddling in such affairs. Prison administrators have a difficult enough job without federal-court intervention. An overbroad remedial decree can make an already daunting task virtually impossible.9
8 Martinez was overruled on other grounds in Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U. S. 401, 413-414 (1989). We have consistently reaffirmed Martinez, however, in all respects relevant to this case, namely, that "the judiciary is 'ill equipped' to deal with the difficult and delicate problems of prison management" and that prison administrators are entitled to "considerable deference." 490 U. S., at 407-408. See also Turner v. Safley, 482 U. S. 78, 84-85 (1987) (relying on Martinez for the principle that " 'courts are ill equipped to deal with the increasingly urgent problems of prison administration and reform' " (citation omitted)).
9 The constitutional and practical concerns identified in Martinez have also resulted in a more deferential standard of review for prisoner claims of constitutional violations. In Turner v. Safley, we held that a prison regulation is valid if it is "reasonably related to legitimate penological interests," even when it "impinges on inmates' constitutional rights." 482 U. S., at 89. A deferential standard was deemed necessary to keep the
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