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ACLU Forces Sweeping Improvements At Baltimore City Jail (08/18/2009)
BALTIMORE – The American Civil Liberties Union and the Baltimore-based Public Justice Center today announced an agreement with Maryland state officials that will lead to dramatic improvements in the quality of medical and mental health care provided to detainees at the Baltimore City Jail and effectively settles major portions of a longstanding class-action lawsuit.

ACLU Tells Court County Needs Detailed Plan Before Closing Jail (07/13/2009)
LOS ANGELES – Alarmed at the prospect of further overcrowding and violence in Los Angeles County's jails, the American Civil Liberties Union today asked a judge to prevent the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department from closing a 1,600-bed jail facility without first preparing a detailed plan to cope with the potential for a serious worsening of conditions in other jails.

ACLU Calls On Federal Judge To Levy Sanctions Against Virgin Islands Officials For Failing To Improve Jail Conditions (05/28/2009)
ST. THOMAS, VI – The American Civil Liberties Union today will ask a federal judge to enact additional sanctions against top government officials in the Virgin Islands for failing to improve the conditions at the Virgin Islands Criminal Justice Complex (CJC), despite standing court orders.

ACLU Files Lawsuit On Behalf Of Wyoming Prisoner Retaliated Against For Reporting Abuse (02/24/2009)
CHEYENNE, WY – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Wyoming today filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a prisoner at the Wyoming State Penitentiary who was forced into solitary confinement for nearly two months in retaliation for reporting the abuse of a fellow prisoner by prison guards.

ACLU Urges Investigation Into Conditions At Texas Prison (02/05/2009)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas today strongly urged the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to investigate the conditions at a federal prison in West Texas after a riot broke out there over the weekend.

Judge Calls Maricopa County Jail Conditions Unconstitutional (10/22/2008)
PHOENIX - A U.S. district court judge today ruled that the grossly inadequate conditions at the Maricopa County Jail, overseen by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, are unconstitutional and jeopardize the health and safety of prisoners.

ACLU Investigation Reveals Grossly Inadequate Conditions On Federal Death Row (10/15/2008)
TERRE HAUTE, IN – Existing conditions on federal death row are grossly inadequate, fail to meet constitutional standards and jeopardize the health and safety of the men who live there, according to an American Civil Liberties Union investigation.

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.

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.

Breakthrough in Case for Children Stuck in Costly Mental Institutions (09/28/2007)
LOS ANGELES - In a breakthrough ruling that affects more than 25,000 California children suffering from serious mental illness, U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz has ordered an expert to oversee the expansion of home- and community-based mental health services for children who would otherwise end up in costly group homes and institutions.

ACLU Report Exposes Ongoing Civil and Human Rights Violations on the Gulf Coast as Katrina's Second Anniversary Nears (08/20/2007)
NEW ORLEANS - The American Civil Liberties Union today released a report revealing continuing incidents of racial injustice and human rights abuses on the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina devastated the area two years ago. In its report, Broken Promises: Two Years After Katrina, the ACLU exposes numerous civil rights violations that have occurred in Louisiana and Mississippi since the storm, including reports of heightened racially motivated police activity, housing discrimination, and prisoner abuse.

NYCLU Urges City Council to Oppose Jail Standard Changes (06/07/2007)
NEW YORK - In testimony today before the New York City Council, the New York Civil Liberties Union will argue that proposed changes to the Minimum Standards governing New York City jails would erode civil liberties and public safety and unfairly punish pre-trial prisoners who have not been convicted of any crime. Along with a coalition of advocates, the NYCLU will ask the City Council to urge the New York City Board of Correction to abandon the proposed changes.

Court Says ACLU Likely to Prevail on Claims Regarding Immigrant Children Detained at Hutto Facility in Texas (04/10/2007)
AUSTIN, TX - In a ruling issued late Monday, a Texas federal court found that the American Civil Liberties Union is “highly likely to prevail” at trial on its claims that the detention of immigrant children at the T. Don Hutto facility in Taylor, Texas is an abuse of discretion by federal officials and violates applicable legal standards.

ACLU of Ohio Demands Department of Justice Investigate Deaths at Butler County Jail (04/10/2007)
HAMILTON, OH - The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and Butler County Commissioners urging them to launch an immediate and thorough investigation into a string of suicides at the Butler County Jail. On Sunday, Timothy James Hughes, 19, was found dead in his cell after committing suicide, making him the fourth inmate at Butler County Jail to die in similar circumstances in under a year.

U.S. Virgin Islands Governor and Attorney General Held in Contempt Over Deficient Care for Mentally Ill Prisoners (03/01/2007)
ST. THOMAS, VI - The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed a federal judge’s ruling finding Virgin Islands government officials in contempt for failing to provide court-ordered mental health care and appropriate housing for mentally ill Virgin Islands prisoners.

ACLU Sues U.S. Immigration Officials and For-Profit Corrections Corporation Over Dangerous and Inhumane Housing of Detainees (01/24/2007)
SAN DIEGO - The American Civil Liberties Union today joined a lawsuit on behalf of immigration detainees at San Diego Correctional Facility, charging that chronically severe overcrowding places detainees’ health and safety at risk and is unconstitutional.

Judge Orders County to End Inhumane Overcrowding in Los Angeles County Jails (10/27/2006)
LOS ANGELES -- In response to the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California's concerns about severe overcrowding in the Los Angeles County jail system, a federal judge today ordered that the county immediately end its unconstitutional practices in the jail's central processing hub.

On Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, ACLU Sees America's Reputation as Human Rights Leader Diminished (08/29/2006)

ACLU Report Details Horrors Suffered by Orleans Parish Prisoners in Wake of Hurricane Katrina (08/10/2006)
NEW ORLEANS -- As the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project today released Abandoned & Abused: Orleans Parish Prisoners in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina. The report documents the experiences of thousands of men, women and children who were abandoned at Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) in the days after the storm.