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ACLU of North Carolina Calls on Governor Beverly Perdue and Attorney General Roy Cooper to Respect the Rule of Law (10/29/2009)
RALEIGH – On the scheduled release date for Bobby Bowden and the other inmates whom the Department of Correction (DOC) deemed earlier this month to have completed their prison sentences, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina (ACLU-NC) today urges the Governor and the state's Attorney General to uphold the Due Process guarantee under both the U.S. Constitution and the North Carolina Constitution that has been a fundamental principle of our constitutional democracy since the founding of this nation.

DHS Announces 11 Previously Unreported Deaths In Immigration Detention (08/17/2009)
NEW YORK – Prompted by an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit seeking previously unreleased documents related to the deaths of immigration detainees in U.S. custody, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials today revealed 11 deaths that have occurred at detention facilities since 2004 that the government had previously failed to publicly disclose.

House Subcommittee To Examine Role Of Federal Statute In Denying Prison Rape Victims Access To Courts (07/08/2009)
WASHINGTON – The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will hold a hearing today to examine the role of a federal statute in denying prison rape victims access to courts. During today’s hearing, entitled “National Prison Rape Elimination Commission Report and Standards,” lawmakers will review the need to reform provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PLRA), a law intended to reduce frivolous lawsuits by prisoners.

Prison Reform Advocates to Discuss Cost-Saving Alternatives to Incarceration at July 11 Forum in Tucson (06/29/2009)
PHOENIX – Saying Arizona's prison policies have led to high incarceration rates and government misspending, local prison reform advocates are urging community members to participate in a public dialogue on July 11 in Tucson on how to reduce crime and save taxpayer dollars.

ACLU of Louisiana Sues over Access to Council (06/09/2009)
Today the ACLU Foundation of Louisiana filed suit against Jefferson Parish officials because a prisoner in Jefferson Parish Correctional Center has been denied access to a lawyer. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, seeks a temporary restraining order requiring Jefferson Parish to allow prisoner Torrey Brown the right to a confidential meeting with attorneys in order to discuss a possible claim against the prison for his treatment while there.

Court Orders Release Of Documents In Double-Bunking Case (05/14/2009)
BOSTON -- A Superior Court judge today ordered the release of documents in the possession of the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC) relating to the new policy of double-bunking inmates at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Facility. The ACLU had filed a lawsuit on behalf of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, which originally requested the documents after receiving reports of tension, fear, and violence among inmates doubled up in small cells previously used for one person.

Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff Relents In Attempt To Get $1.75 Million For Public Records (01/28/2009)
In light of the recent deaths and continued reports of deplorable conditions at Orleans Parish Prison, today the ACLU of Louisiana sought public records from Orleans Criminal Sheriff Marlin Gusman, including copies of the Sheriff's contracts and reports on prisoner deaths at Orleans Parish Prison. The ACLU of Louisiana initially made its request last year, but the Sheriff's office requested a $1.75 million deposit for copies of these public documents. After nearly a year of negotiation, including persuading the Sheriff to release some of the requested documents electronically and curtailing the scope of the request, the ACLU was able to reduce the requested deposit to $1,007.25. The ACLU of Louisiana still believes that this amount is excessive and unreasonable, but in view of the urgent conditions at Orleans Parish Prison, has decided to post the deposit in order to obtain the information.

ACLU Lawsuit Gets Prisoner's Extended Sentence Reduced (12/16/2008)
NEW ORLEANS- Today the ACLU of Louisiana confirmed that the Louisiana Department of Corrections has partially relented in its punishment of Ernest Billizone, a prisoner whose sentence was lengthened by nine months simply for writing complaints to prison officials about a prison employee's behavior.

ACLU Helps Secure Substantial Settlement For Family Of Quadriplegic Left To Die In D.C. Jail (12/02/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union has helped to secure a substantial settlement from District of Columbia officials and Greater Southeast Community Hospital on behalf of the family of a quadriplegic man who died while in custody at the Central Detention Facility.

Man Arrested At Home After Katrina Allowed To Proceed With Lawsuit (10/10/2008)
Today the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal allowed James Terry to proceed with his lawsuit against Warden Cornel Hubert of Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, for damages resulting from his treatment during and after Hurricane Katrina.

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.

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 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).

Civil Rights Lawyers and Mississippi Department of Corrections Agree to Overhaul Violent Supermax Unit (11/15/2007)
ABERDEEN, Miss. – The American Civil Liberties Union, the law firm of Holland & Knight, LLP, and the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) have reached a landmark agreement paving the way for the continued sweeping reform of a super maximum security unit – Unit 32 – in the Mississippi State Penitentiary, once notorious for violence and chaos. Under the agreement, MDOC will continue to remove hundreds of misclassified prisoners and all seriously mentally ill prisoners from supermax confinement; improve basic mental health care and impose additional restrictions on the use of force by guards.

Disparate Advocates Tell Congress to Fix Law That Silences Prisoner Abuse (11/08/2007)
Washington, DC – Conservative activists, academics and prisoners united today to urge members of a House Judiciary Committee subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security to reform the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). The PLRA, enacted in 1996, was passed to reduce frivolous prisoner lawsuits, but in reality the law has made it nearly impossible for prisoners to report abuse and unconstitutional conditions of confinement in federal court.

Amendment to Legislation Will Require Government Transparency and Accountability Regarding Immigrant Deaths in Custody (11/07/2007)
Washington, DC – An amendment that requires officials to report deaths of detainees in local and state custody was passed today by the House Judiciary Committee. The amendment, offered by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and attached to H.R. 3971, the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2007, mandates transparency and accountability by state and local agencies of all immigration detainees who die in their custody. Since most Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees are held in state and local facilities, most of the deaths of immigrants in detention would have to be reported to the attorney general.