Home : Prisoners' Rights

Dangerous Threat of Heat-Related Illness Prompts Appeals Court to Affirm Order to Cool Supermax Prison (07/02/2004)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that prison officials must cool prisoners' cells at a super-maximum facility where the heat index is known to have reached 125 degrees.

Appeals Court Affirms that Mississippi Death Row Conditions are Unconstitutional (06/30/2004)
NEW ORLEANS-In the most comprehensive decision regarding death row conditions in the last ten years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has affirmed a lower court's opinion that Mississippi's death row is unconstitutional and requires improvements, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Holland & Knight announced today.

At Hearing on Health Conditions for HIV+ Prisoners, ACLU Says Officials Failed to Prevent Staph Infection Outbreak (06/28/2004)
OXFORD, MS- At a federal court hearing today on health conditions for Mississippi prisoners with HIV, the American Civil Liberties Union presented evidence that prison officials failed to prevent a drug-resistant staphylococcus outbreak within the men's unit for HIV-positive prisoners.

Court Order Ends Discrimination Against HIV+ Prisoners in Mississippi, ACLU Welcomes Hard Fought Reform (06/17/2004)
JACKSON, MS-The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded a federal court order that finally ends all sanctioned discrimination against prisoners with HIV/AIDS who are banned from participation in community work programs because of their illness.

ACLU Urges Hawaii Governor to Break Stalemate Over Brutal Conditions at Youth Correctional Facility (06/14/2004)
HONOLULU-The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii urged Governor Linda Lingle today to break a stalemate and finally address the brutal and unconstitutional treatment of children at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.

ACLU Raises Concerns Over Psychiatric Services After Suicide at Orleans Parish Prison (06/08/2004)
NEW ORLEANS- At a hearing tomorrow before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alma L. Chasez, the American Civil Liberties Union will argue for reconsideration of the court's dismissal of mental health care issues from its oversight at the Orleans Parish Prison, following the apparent suicide of a 34-year-old man placed in four-point restraints.

U.S. Must End Torture of Prisoners in America As Well As in Iraq, ACLU Says (05/11/2004)
WASHINGTON- Like most Americans, I am horrified by the sexually degrading photographs and the reports of Iraqi detainees being threatened with electrocution and rape by members of our military at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. Those who are shocked by these human rights violations, however, should be aware that equally depraved acts are committed against prisoners in the United States regularly without the outrage and disgust currently being expressed by U.S. officials in response to conditions in Iraq.

ACLU Says Faulty Investigation by Texas Corrections Department Led to Grand Jury's Failure to Indict Rape Suspects (02/26/2004)
AUSTIN, TX-Citing evidence that a gay prisoner had repeatedly pleaded with corrections officials to help him escape rapes by prison gang members, the American Civil Liberties Union today released documents refuting a flawed internal investigation by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that claimed the victim consented to sex with his attackers.

ACLU Urges Appeals Court to Enforce Fire Safety Regulations in Michigan Prisons (02/05/2004)
CINCINNATI-Citing the grave risks to the health and lives of prisoners and their guards, the American Civil Liberties Union today urged a federal appeals court to uphold a ruling directing the Michigan Department of Corrections to ensure that its prisons conform to national fire safety standards.

Court Approves Settlement of ACLU Lawsuit to Improve Conditions at County Jail in Washington State (01/28/2004)
TACOMA, WA -- Judge Ronald Leighton of U.S. District Court has approved a settlement agreement between the American Civil Liberties Union and Jefferson County officials to improve conditions for inmates at the Jefferson County Jail in Port Hadlock on the Olympic Peninsula, the ACLU announced today.