Mass Incarceration
Dockery v. Hall
The ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Law Offices of Elizabeth Alexander, and the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, filed a petition for class certification and expert reports for a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF). The lawsuit, which was filed in May 2013, describes the for-profit prison as hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous. EMCF is operated "in a perpetual state of crisis" where prisoners are at "grave risk of death and loss of limbs." The facility, located in Meridian, Mississippi, is supposed to provide intensive treatment to the state's prisoners with serious psychiatric disabilities, many of whom are locked down in long-term solitary confinement.
View Case
Learn About Mass Incarceration
All Cases
159 Mass Incarceration Cases

U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2010
Mass Incarceration
Prisoners' Rights
Barber v. Thomas
Whether the Bureau of Prisoners is improperly denying federal prisoners good time credits, and thus prolonging the prison sentences, by misinterpreting the relevant congressional statute.
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2010

Mass Incarceration
Prisoners' Rights
Barber v. Thomas
Whether the Bureau of Prisoners is improperly denying federal prisoners good time credits, and thus prolonging the prison sentences, by misinterpreting the relevant congressional statute.

U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2009
Mass Incarceration
Racial Justice
Berghuis v. Smith
Whether the right to an impartial jury guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment includes the right to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community as the Supreme Court has repeatedly held and, if so, how the fair cross-section requirement should be measured and enforced.
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2009

Mass Incarceration
Racial Justice
Berghuis v. Smith
Whether the right to an impartial jury guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment includes the right to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community as the Supreme Court has repeatedly held and, if so, how the fair cross-section requirement should be measured and enforced.

Georgia
Dec 2009
Mass Incarceration
Racial Justice
Harris et al. v. Atlanta Independent School System
A class action lawsuit against the Atlanta Independent School System and Community Education Partners (CEP) for violating students' constitutional right to an adequate public education. This case was settled December 14, 2009.
Explore case
Georgia
Dec 2009

Mass Incarceration
Racial Justice
Harris et al. v. Atlanta Independent School System
A class action lawsuit against the Atlanta Independent School System and Community Education Partners (CEP) for violating students' constitutional right to an adequate public education. This case was settled December 14, 2009.

U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2009
Mass Incarceration
Smart Justice
Kiyemba v. Obama
Whether federal habeas courts have the authority to order the release of Guantanamo detainees who are being illegally detained, including an order releasing them into the United States if no other alternative is available.
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2009

Mass Incarceration
Smart Justice
Kiyemba v. Obama
Whether federal habeas courts have the authority to order the release of Guantanamo detainees who are being illegally detained, including an order releasing them into the United States if no other alternative is available.

U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2009
Mass Incarceration
Racial Justice
Lewis v. City of Chicago
Whether the 300 day deadline for filing a disparate impact complaint with the EEOC runs from the date the challenged practice is adopted by the employer or from the date that it is applied against the complaining employee.
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2009

Mass Incarceration
Racial Justice
Lewis v. City of Chicago
Whether the 300 day deadline for filing a disparate impact complaint with the EEOC runs from the date the challenged practice is adopted by the employer or from the date that it is applied against the complaining employee.