Home : Prisoners' Rights

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 Lawsuit Charges Grossly Inadequate Medical Care At State Prison In Nevada (03/06/2008)
ELY, NV – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit today against the director of Nevada’s Department of Corrections and other top governmental officials in Nevada for failing to rectify a pervasive pattern of grossly inadequate medical care at the Ely State Prison that creates a substantial risk of serious medical harm for each of the prison’s 1,000 inmates. The lawsuit charges that the prison lacks the most basic elements of an adequate prison health care system and deprives prisoners of the minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities.

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).

ACLU Calls on Nevada Governor to Address Grossly Inadequate Prison Health Care (12/06/2007)
ELY, NV –The American Civil Liberties Union today called on Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons to investigate deficient medical care at Ely State Prison (ESP), home of Nevada’s death row where, according to a report by a medical expert commissioned by the ACLU, gravely ill prisoners are denied treatment for excruciatingly painful and potentially fatal medical conditions. The ACLU sent the report – along with a letter demanding that the state commit the resources necessary to carry out needed systemic reforms – to Gibbons today after conferring about the problem for several months with Nevada Department of Corrections Director, Howard Skolnik.

ACLU Challenges Virginia Law Excluding Prisoners From FOIA (12/06/2007)
RICHMOND, VA – The ACLU of Virginia was in court this morning seeking to overturn a Virginia statute that prevents prisoners from using the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain public documents. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard oral arguments in the case.

ACLU Urges Court to Fine Virgin Islands Officials for Indefinitely Detaining Innocent Mentally Ill Inmates (11/30/2007)
ST. THOMAS, VI –The American Civil Liberties Union today is urging a federal judge to fine top government officials in the Virgin Islands for not complying with court orders to transfer inmates with mental illness to a psychiatric hospital. The inmates have been found not guilty by reason of insanity, and have been imprisoned for years without any criminal charges or access to appropriate mental health care.

ACLU of New Mexico Sues for Better Safety and Services in Juvenile Justice Facilities (11/19/2007)
ALBUQUERQUE – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico sued the New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD) today for failing to ensure safe living conditions and essential rehabilitation services for young people in state juvenile justice facilities. The lawsuit charges CYFD with breaching the terms of a contract it signed with the ACLU in February 2006 requiring the agency to establish minimally adequate mental health services and protect youth from physical assaults and threats of violence. CYFD entered into the 2006 agreement in order to avoid being sued for rights violations at that time, said the ACLU.

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.