Home : Prisoners' Rights

Male Correction Officers Should be Restricted From Some Areas of Women's Prisons, ACLU Says (03/06/2001)
DETROIT - The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed a friend-of-the-court brief today arguing that an important legal settlement designed to protect women prisoners from sexual abuse and assault by male corrections officers should be upheld. 

ACLU Wins Damages for Iowa Woman Strapped Naked to a Wooden Board in County Jail (01/29/2001)
DES MOINES--Issuing a strong rebuke to a local sheriff's department, a federal jury on Friday awarded $5,000 in damages to a woman who was strapped naked, spread-eagle fashion, upon a wooden board while in custody at a county jail.

Supreme Court Hears Arguments Today on English-Only Rule and Censorship of Prisoners (01/16/2001)
WASHINGTON--The U.S. Supreme Court will hear two important civil rights arguments today. In the first, the Justices will consider whether Alabama may refuse to accommodate driver's license applicants who do not read English; the second case looks at whether prison officials may censor prisoner communications that are critical of its employees.

Inmates To Pay for Health Care (10/17/2000)
WASHINGTON, DC-- Federal prison inmates who have money will have to pay part of the cost of their doctor visits under legislation signed by President Clinton, the Associated Press reported.

Court Ruling Allows Inmate to Press Abuse Lawsuit in ACLU Challenge to Restriction on Prisoners' Rights (10/06/2000)
LOS ANGELES--The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California announced success today in its challenge to the retroactive application of a law restricting prisoners lawsuits in a civil rights case brought by an inmate at the notorious Corcoran State Prison.

Pregnant Prisoner Barred from Obtaining Abortion To Receive New Sentence Tomorrow (07/13/2000)
CLEVELAND, OH -- At a hearing tomorrow morning, Yuriko Kawaguchi, the "pregnant prisoner" who was sentenced to a highly unusual jail term by a judge who openly sought to bar her from obtaining an abortion will receive a new -- and hopefully more fair -- sentence, according to her attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union.

Ohio Appeals Court Vacates "Pregnant Prisoner" Sentence (04/06/2000)
CLEVELAND -- An Ohio appeals court today vacated the sentence of a prisoner who appeared to have received a longer jail term because she expressed the desire to terminate her pregnancy while incarcerated.

Acting on Behalf of Inmates and Local Publishers, ACLU Challenges Censorship in Colorado Prisons (03/22/2000)
DENVER, CO -- Acting on behalf of eight local publishers and the prisoners who want to read their papers, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado today filed a federal court challenge to the censorship of books, newspapers, magazines, and political commentary by the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Citing Ongoing Abuses, ACLU of MI Challenges Law Cutting Off Legal Protection for Female Prisoners (03/14/2000)
DETROIT, MI -- Saying that female prisoners at a county jail are subject to sexual harassment and barred from work release and other jail programs on the basis of gender, the ACLU of Michigan today filed a federal class action challenge to a new state law barring prisoners from seeking protection in the courts.

Virginia Investigates Guard-Inmate Sex (10/12/1999)
RICHMOND, VA -- State officials have ordered an investigation into complaints of widespread sexual abuse by guards at Virginia's largest women's prison, the Associated Press reported today.

ACLU Sues Missouri Authorities Over "Deplorable" Conditions at County Jail (10/06/1999)
SPRINGFIELD, MO---Acting on behalf of an inmate, the American Civil Liberties Union today filed a class action lawsuit against county officials today, citing inhumane conditions at a jail in Ozark.