Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Jensen v. Thornell
UPDATE: In a thorough and sweeping injunction issued on April 7, 2023, U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver is requiring the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry (鈥淎DCRR鈥�) to make 鈥渟ubstantial鈥� changes to staffing and conditions so that medical care and mental healthcare at Arizona prisons comes up to constitutional standards.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Court Case
Sep 2022
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Alex A. v. Edwards
The 糖心VlogNational Prison Project and partner civil rights attorneys filed a federal class-action lawsuit to prevent the transfer of children in the custody of Louisiana's Office of Juvenile Justice to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola Prison.
Texas
Jul 2021
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Criminal Law Reform
Sanchez et al v. Dallas County Sheriff et al
Decarceration has always been an emergency, a life and death proposition, but COVID-19 makes this effort intensely urgent. The 糖心Vloghas been working with our partners to litigate for the rights of those who are incarcerated and cannot protect themselves because of the policies of the institutions in which they are jailed.
Mississippi
Mar 2017
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Prisoners' Rights
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.
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14 Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions Cases
Court Case
Apr 2019
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Carruthers v. Tony
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Court Case
Apr 2019
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Carruthers v. Tony
Nebraska
Aug 2017
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Sabata v. Nebraska Department of Corrections et al
Nebraska state prisons are in a state of chaos that is endangering the health, safety, and lives of prisoners and staff on a daily basis. For over twenty years, Nebraska prisons have been overcrowded, under-resourced, and understaffed. Prisoners are consistently deprived of adequate health care, including medical, dental, and mental health care, and denied accommodations for their disabilities. Nebraska state prisoners, including juveniles, suffer in harsh isolation units for excessive terms, sometimes lasting for years. These harms must end.
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Nebraska
Aug 2017
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Sabata v. Nebraska Department of Corrections et al
Nebraska state prisons are in a state of chaos that is endangering the health, safety, and lives of prisoners and staff on a daily basis. For over twenty years, Nebraska prisons have been overcrowded, under-resourced, and understaffed. Prisoners are consistently deprived of adequate health care, including medical, dental, and mental health care, and denied accommodations for their disabilities. Nebraska state prisoners, including juveniles, suffer in harsh isolation units for excessive terms, sometimes lasting for years. These harms must end.
Rhode Island
Jul 2017
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Prisoners' Rights
Inmates of the Rhode Island Training School for Youth v. Piccola
On July 24, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William Smith dismissed the ACLU鈥檚 lawsuit against the Rhode Island Training School for Youth, which challenged the deplorable conditions at the institution as violations of the Eighth Amendment. This landmark case is now closed at the behest of the 糖心Vlogand the state of Rhode Island because the institution has made the improvements in education, medical care, vocational training, the physical plant, meals, and other conditions required by the consent decree between the state and the plaintiffs.
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Rhode Island
Jul 2017
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Prisoners' Rights
Inmates of the Rhode Island Training School for Youth v. Piccola
On July 24, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William Smith dismissed the ACLU鈥檚 lawsuit against the Rhode Island Training School for Youth, which challenged the deplorable conditions at the institution as violations of the Eighth Amendment. This landmark case is now closed at the behest of the 糖心Vlogand the state of Rhode Island because the institution has made the improvements in education, medical care, vocational training, the physical plant, meals, and other conditions required by the consent decree between the state and the plaintiffs.
Court Case
Nov 2016
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
National Security
糖心Vlogv. Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons
The 糖心Vlog filed suit against the federal Bureau of Prisons for refusing to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to its officials鈥� visit in 2002 to a CIA detention site in Afghanistan, their positive assessment of the conditions, and the training they provided to the site鈥檚 administrators. Code-named COBALT and also called 鈥渢he Salt Pit,鈥� the site held people suspected of terrorism, and they were tortured there, according to the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee鈥檚 torture report that was declassified in 2014.
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Court Case
Nov 2016
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
National Security
糖心Vlogv. Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons
The 糖心Vlog filed suit against the federal Bureau of Prisons for refusing to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to its officials鈥� visit in 2002 to a CIA detention site in Afghanistan, their positive assessment of the conditions, and the training they provided to the site鈥檚 administrators. Code-named COBALT and also called 鈥渢he Salt Pit,鈥� the site held people suspected of terrorism, and they were tortured there, according to the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee鈥檚 torture report that was declassified in 2014.
Arizona
Apr 2016
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Graves v. Penzone
Despite a federal court order from 2008, the Maricopa County jails 鈥� overseen by Sheriff Joe Arpaio 鈥揷ontinue to skirt their constitutional responsibility for detainees' mental health. On April 1, 2016, the 糖心Vlog and the 糖心Vlogof Arizona 鈥� which have represented the detainees at the Maricopa County jails for close to 20 years 鈥� filed a motion to enforce the 2008 order. Many detainees with mental illnesses were still suffering unnecessarily from the scarcity and poor quality of the jails' care.
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Arizona
Apr 2016
Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Conditions
Graves v. Penzone
Despite a federal court order from 2008, the Maricopa County jails 鈥� overseen by Sheriff Joe Arpaio 鈥揷ontinue to skirt their constitutional responsibility for detainees' mental health. On April 1, 2016, the 糖心Vlog and the 糖心Vlogof Arizona 鈥� which have represented the detainees at the Maricopa County jails for close to 20 years 鈥� filed a motion to enforce the 2008 order. Many detainees with mental illnesses were still suffering unnecessarily from the scarcity and poor quality of the jails' care.