Home : Prisoners' Rights

ACLU Fights For Prisoner Punished For Exercising Freedom Of Speech (07/08/2009)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – The ACLU Foundation of Louisiana today filed a lawsuit on behalf of prisoner Ernest Billizone, who was punished by prison officials for filing simple written complaints about employee behavior. Although his written complaints contained no threats of violence, foul language or unlawful or improper action, the prison punished him. In one instance, he was punished for "spreading rumors."

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.

ACLU Secures Prisoner's Right To Practice Catholic Faith (07/01/2009)
NEW ORLEANS, LA Today the ACLU Foundation of Louisiana and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections filed a settlement securing the right of prisoner Donald Lee Leger to practice his Catholic faith by participating in Catholic Mass and Confession. Leger, a Catholic death row inmate at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, sued prison officials after being unable to regularly participate in Catholic Mass, although Baptist religious services were routinely held on death row. Leger also was made to watch and listen to predominately Baptist programming on a television directly placed outside his cell.

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.

Commission Finds Federal Law Denies Prison Rape Victims Access To Courts (06/23/2009)
WASHINGTON – The bipartisan National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC) released a report today finding that a law intended to reduce frivolous lawsuits by prisoners denies victims of prison rape and other abuse access to the federal courts. The report proposes national standards to eliminate prison rape and calls on Congress to reform key provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), passed in 1996. In its report, the commission also recommends reduction in prison overcrowding; improved training for prison and jail employees for better detection of sexual assault; improved classification of vulnerable prisoners to protect them from abuse; and better psychological and medical treatment for sexual abuse victims.

ACLU Lawsuit Challenges Secret Creation Of Isolated Housing Units In Federal Prisons (06/18/2009)
TERRE HAUTE, IN – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Indiana today filed a legal complaint challenging the unprecedented and secret creation of housing units inside federal prisons in which prisoners are condemned to live in stark isolation from the outside world. Called Communication Management Units (CMUs) and designed to house prisoners viewed by the government as terrorists, they were established in violation of federal laws requiring public scrutiny and today are disproportionately inhabited by Muslim prisoners – many of whom have never been convicted of terrorism-related crimes.

Prison Litigation Reform Act Denies Access To Courts For Over 2 Million People (06/16/2009)
WASHINGTON – In light of a new report showing that a law intended to reduce so-called “frivolous lawsuits” by prisoners has resulted in barring serious prison abuse cases from reaching the courts, the American Civil Liberties Union today called on Congress to amend parts of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 (PLRA). The law requires prisoners to exhaust the internal grievance process of their facilities and allege a physical injury due to mistreatment in order to seek redress in the courts.

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.

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.

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.

ACLU Wins Judicial Order Requiring Proper Administration Of Medicine At Wisconsin Women's Prison (04/24/2009)
MILWAUKEE – A federal judge today ordered correctional officials in Wisconsin to take immediate steps toward fixing the error-prone system of ordering and administering medication to prisoners at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution, the state's largest women's prison.