Home : Prisoners' Rights

ACLU Calls For Independent Audit Of South Carolina Department Of Corrections (08/26/2008)
CHARLESTON, SC – The American Civil Liberties Union's South Carolina Office today called on state officials to ask the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) to perform an independent audit of the South Carolina Department of Corrections in the face of charges of lax security, inmate abuse and a politicized, hostile work environment. The Legislative Audit Council last week scrapped a plan to survey the department's employees after the department's director charged that the effort was politically motivated.

ACLU In Court Today Challenging Conditions At Maricopa County Jail (08/12/2008)
PHOENIX – The American Civil Liberties Union is in a federal district court beginning today seeking to rebuff an attempt by Maricopa County and its sheriff, Joe Arpaio, to terminate a federal consent decree mandating that he maintain conditions at the Maricopa County Jail that meet constitutional minimums.

Inmates With Disabilities Face Discrimination In Los Angeles County Jails (05/29/2008)
LOS ANGELES –People with disabilities face inhumane treatment and illegal discrimination in the Los Angeles County jail system because it routinely fails to accommodatetheir needs. Today, civil and disability rights attorneysare filing suit in U.S. District Court to stop the mistreatment.

ACLU Welcomes Immigration Detention Medical Treatment Legislation (05/05/2008)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union applauds Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) for introducing H.R. 5950, the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008. This legislation requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop procedures to ensure adequate medical care for all detainees held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The legislation also requires ICE to report detainee deaths to the DHS and Department of Justice Offices of Inspector General.

ACLU Lawsuit Against Michigan Department of Corrections Resumes Today (04/28/2008)
KALAMAZOO, MI - The American Civil Liberties Union is arguing today in a Michigan federal court that Michigan Department of Corrections officials must provide necessary mental health care services to newly-admitted and other prisoners.

Prison Litigation Reform Act Must be Fixed, Law denies justice to victims (04/22/2008)
Washington, DC – The House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security is scheduled to examine reform of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), which was originally passed by Congress in 1996 as a way to stem the tide against what were thought to be frivolous lawsuits by prisoners. Since that time, the law has been used repeatedly to deny justice to victims of rape, assault, religious rights violations and other serious abuses.

ACLU Lawsuit Charges Grossly Inadequate Medical Care At State Prison In Nevada (03/06/2008)
ELY, NV – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit today against the director of Nevada’s Department of Corrections and other top governmental officials in Nevada for failing to rectify a pervasive pattern of grossly inadequate medical care at the Ely State Prison that creates a substantial risk of serious medical harm for each of the prison’s 1,000 inmates. The lawsuit charges that the prison lacks the most basic elements of an adequate prison health care system and deprives prisoners of the minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities.

ACLU of New Mexico Sues Jail for Rape of Inmate (01/24/2008)
ALBUQUERQUE — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed a lawsuit today against the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) for failing to protect inmate Roman Gallardo from physical and sexual assault by another prisoner while Gallardo was incarcerated for a DWI offense in 2006. The rape took place after Gallardo, an openly gay man, was forced to share a cell with an inmate who was known to have sexually assaulted at least one other prisoner.

ACLU Calls Passage of Deaths in Custody Bill a Step in the Right Direction (01/23/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today supported a bill passed by the House that compels officials to report deaths of prisoners and immigration detainees in local and state custody. The Deaths in Custody Reporting Act, introduced by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), demands accountability and transparency from state and local agencies, where most immigration detainees are held, when people die in custody. The bill does not, however, apply to deaths in federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.

ACLU Testimony to Virgin Islands Legislature Urges Overhaul of Prison System (01/16/2008)
ST. THOMAS, VI – An American Civil Liberties Union lawyer advocated Wednesday that lawmakers in the Virgin Islands adopt a bill that would establish the Bureau of Corrections as its own governmental agency headed by a cabinet-level director appointed by the governor. In testimony given before the Virgin Islands Legislature’s Committee on Public Safety, Homeland Security and Justice, Eric Balaban, senior staff counsel for the ACLU’s National Prison Project, said the bill would create greater accountability for prison officials and go a long way toward improving what he described as the “unconstitutional and dangerous conditions” at the Virgin Islands Criminal Justice Complex (CJC).

ACLU Calls on Nevada Prison Officials to Comply with National Health Care Standards (01/07/2008)
ELY, NV – The American Civil Liberties Union today proposed to Nevada government officials, including Governor Jim Gibbons and Corrections Director Howard Skolnik, a series of basic reforms to dramatically improve prison health care at Ely State Prison (ESP).