Home : Prisoners' Rights

ACLU and PJC Urge Maryland Board to Reject Contract with Company Known for Providing Deficient Medical Care in Prisons (06/01/2005)
ANNAPOLIS, MD -- Citing Correctional Medical Services' poor record for dispensing medical care to prisoners, the American Civil Liberties Union and Public Justice Center today urged Maryland's Board of Public Works to reject a proposed contract with the for-profit company.

ACLU Applauds Supreme Court Ruling Protecting Religious Liberty in Prisons (05/31/2005)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded an unusual unanimous vote by the Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of a federal law that requires states to allow prisoners to practice their religious beliefs.

Minnesota Prison Officials End Censorship of ACLU Publication After Threat of Lawsuit (05/27/2005)
ST. PAUL, MN -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded prison officials' policy revision allowing Minnesota prisoners in segregation to receive publications containing legal material. The policy change came on the eve of the ACLU's filing that would have challenged the censorship of the organization's legal journal for prisoners.

ACLU Asks Court to Grant Class Action Status in Saginaw County Jail For Abuse of Detainees (05/02/2005)
DETROIT -- Although the Saginaw County sheriff claims that a policy of stripping and holding pre-trial detainees naked in a segregated cell has ended, there is now evidence that this long-standing practice may still exist, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan said in legal papers filed late Friday requesting class action status for its lawsuit over the matter.

Lives of HIV Positive Prisoners in Mississippi Saved By Lawsuit, Says the ACLU (04/01/2005)
JACKSON, MS- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the dramatic improvements in medical treatment and living conditions for hundreds of HIV positive Mississippi prisoners as a result of litigation that concluded yesterday.

ACLU and Center for Constitutional Rights Argue Prison Rights Case Before U.S. Supreme Court (03/30/2005)
""This case presents the same issue as the Guantanamo cases decided last spring,"" said Staughton Lynd, an ACLU of Ohio volunteer attorney and trial counsel in Austin. ""What due process is required before indefinite solitary confinement can be imposed on any human being?""

ACLU Joins Lawsuits Charging That Michigan Jail Illegally Forced Inmates to Strip (03/28/2005)
DETROIT - The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan announced today that it will join in three lawsuits that have been filed against the Saginaw County Jail for allowing egregious and unconstitutional treatment of detainees. All three cases challenge policies that allow prison personnel to strip inmates, and two of the cases charge that detainees were stripped and held naked in a cell referred to as "the hole."

ACLU Applauds Supreme Court Decision Protecting Prisoners from Racial Discrimination (02/23/2005)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today hailed a Supreme Court decision rejecting the use of racial segregation as a routine method of prison administration. The Court first held that racially segregated prisons were unconstitutional in a 1968 case brought by the ACLU.

Pennsylvania Jail Requires Religion With Rehabilitation, ACLU Charges (02/17/2005)
TOWANDA, PA-- The only vocational training program available at a Pennsylvania county jail forces prisoners to participate in religious discussions, religious lectures and prayer, the American Civil Liberties Union charged today in a complaint filed in federal court.

Indiana's "Supermax" Confinement Worsens Mental Illness in Prisoners, ACLU Charges (02/03/2005)
INDIANAPOLIS - The extreme isolation and sensory deprivation found in Indiana's Secured Housing Unit spurred four suicides and numerous self-mutilations by mentally ill prisoners, said the American Civil Liberties Union today in a lawsuit filed against state prison officials.

Man Raped by Prison Guard Receives Money Damages in ACLU Lawsuit (12/02/2004)
WASHINGTON- A 25-year-old Texas prisoner, who was repeatedly raped by a prison guard with a history of sexual assault, accepted a settlement in which his rapist and the assistant warden who failed to protect him agreed to pay substantial money damages, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today.