Prisoners' Rights
Jensen v. Thornell
UPDATE: In a thorough and sweeping injunction issued on April 7, 2023, U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver is requiring the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry (“ADCRR”) to make “substantial” changes to staffing and conditions so that medical care and mental healthcare at Arizona prisons comes up to constitutional standards.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Sep 2022
Alex A. v. Edwards
The ACLU National Prison Project and partner civil rights attorneys filed a federal class-action lawsuit to prevent the transfer of children in the custody of Louisiana's Office of Juvenile Justice to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola Prison.
Status: Ongoing
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Texas
Jul 2021
Sanchez et al v. Dallas County Sheriff et al
Decarceration has always been an emergency, a life and death proposition, but COVID-19 makes this effort intensely urgent. The ACLU has been working with our partners to litigate for the rights of those who are incarcerated and cannot protect themselves because of the policies of the institutions in which they are jailed.
Status: Ongoing
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Mississippi
Mar 2017
Dockery v. Hall
The ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Law Offices of Elizabeth Alexander, and the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, filed a petition for class certification and expert reports for a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF). The lawsuit, which was filed in May 2013, describes the for-profit prison as hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous. EMCF is operated "in a perpetual state of crisis" where prisoners are at "grave risk of death and loss of limbs." The facility, located in Meridian, Mississippi, is supposed to provide intensive treatment to the state's prisoners with serious psychiatric disabilities, many of whom are locked down in long-term solitary confinement.
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All Cases
61 Prisoners' Rights Cases
U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2011
Turner v. Rogers
Whether an indigent parent facing imprisonment for failure to pay child support is entitled to appointed counsel?
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Prisoners' Rights
Smart Justice
Turner v. Rogers
Whether an indigent parent facing imprisonment for failure to pay child support is entitled to appointed counsel?
Jan 2011
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Dec 2010
ACLU comments to European Court of Human Rights in Babar Ahmad and Others v. The United Kingdom
Conditions of confinement in a US "supermax" prison
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Prisoners' Rights
+2 Issues
ACLU comments to European Court of Human Rights in Babar Ahmad and Others v. The United Kingdom
Conditions of confinement in a US "supermax" prison
Dec 2010
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U.S. Supreme Court
Aug 2010
Sossamon v. Texas
Whether the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which was designed in part to protect the religious rights of prisoners, allows prisoners to sue a state for money damages when a state violates those religious rights.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Prisoners' Rights
+3 Issues
Sossamon v. Texas
Whether the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which was designed in part to protect the religious rights of prisoners, allows prisoners to sue a state for money damages when a state violates those religious rights.
Aug 2010
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Jul 2010
Health Care at Ely State Prison
ACLU Lawsuit Charges Grossly Inadequate Medical Care At State Prison In Nevada
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Prisoners' Rights
Smart Justice
Health Care at Ely State Prison
ACLU Lawsuit Charges Grossly Inadequate Medical Care At State Prison In Nevada
Jul 2010
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Indiana
Jun 2010
Benkahla v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, et al.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Indiana today filed a legal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana challenging the confinement of an American citizen in a Communication Management Unit (CMU) -- secretly created housing units inside federal prisons in which prisoners are condemned to live in stark isolation from the outside world.
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Indiana
Prisoners' Rights
Smart Justice
Benkahla v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, et al.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Indiana today filed a legal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana challenging the confinement of an American citizen in a Communication Management Unit (CMU) -- secretly created housing units inside federal prisons in which prisoners are condemned to live in stark isolation from the outside world.
Jun 2010
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