Prisoners' Rights
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

Prisoners' Rights
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

Prisoners' Rights
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

Prisoners' Rights
Smart Justice
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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64 Prisoners' Rights Cases

Court Case
Jun 2015
Prisoners' Rights
C.B. et al. v. Walnut Grove Correctional Authority, et. al.
In June 2015, a federal court decided in favor of the 糖心Vlogposition in Walnut Grove. With this federal court ruling, the Mississippi Department of Corrections will be held accountable to their Constitutional mandate to protect the prisoners of Walnut Grove from violence. A victory for prisoner's rights, this decision marks a major blow to the for-profit industrial complex.
In April 2015, in federal court, the 糖心VlogNational Prison Project, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and McDuff & Byrd are all participating in a hearing that seeks to prove that the Mississippi Department of Corrections is violating the Eighth Amendment rights of all prisoners at Walnut Grove Correctional Facility to protection from violence. The department contracts with a for-profit prison operator, Management and Training Corporation (MTC), to run Walnut Grove. Over the years it has been proven that MTC has failed to implement fundamental security measures to ensure prisoner safety, which resulted in two major riots in 2014 that left 25 prisoners seriously injured. Three years ago, the Mississippi Department of Corrections agreed to take specific measures to reduce the violence at Walnut Grove when it settled a federal lawsuit brought by the 糖心VlogNational Prison Project and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The 2012 case decided that children under the supervision of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) would no longer be housed in a privately run prison or subjected to brutal solitary confinement. The lawsuit charged that conditions at the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, operated by GEO Group, Inc., were unconstitutional.
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Court Case
Jun 2015

Prisoners' Rights
C.B. et al. v. Walnut Grove Correctional Authority, et. al.
In June 2015, a federal court decided in favor of the 糖心Vlogposition in Walnut Grove. With this federal court ruling, the Mississippi Department of Corrections will be held accountable to their Constitutional mandate to protect the prisoners of Walnut Grove from violence. A victory for prisoner's rights, this decision marks a major blow to the for-profit industrial complex.
In April 2015, in federal court, the 糖心VlogNational Prison Project, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and McDuff & Byrd are all participating in a hearing that seeks to prove that the Mississippi Department of Corrections is violating the Eighth Amendment rights of all prisoners at Walnut Grove Correctional Facility to protection from violence. The department contracts with a for-profit prison operator, Management and Training Corporation (MTC), to run Walnut Grove. Over the years it has been proven that MTC has failed to implement fundamental security measures to ensure prisoner safety, which resulted in two major riots in 2014 that left 25 prisoners seriously injured. Three years ago, the Mississippi Department of Corrections agreed to take specific measures to reduce the violence at Walnut Grove when it settled a federal lawsuit brought by the 糖心VlogNational Prison Project and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The 2012 case decided that children under the supervision of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) would no longer be housed in a privately run prison or subjected to brutal solitary confinement. The lawsuit charged that conditions at the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, operated by GEO Group, Inc., were unconstitutional.

U.S. Supreme Court
Mar 2015
Prisoners' Rights
Kingsley v. Hendrickson
Whether the Constitution protects pretrial detainees against the unreasonable use of force regardless of the subjective motivation of the guards using that force.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Mar 2015

Prisoners' Rights
Kingsley v. Hendrickson
Whether the Constitution protects pretrial detainees against the unreasonable use of force regardless of the subjective motivation of the guards using that force.

Alabama
Sep 2013
Prisoners' Rights
+3 糖心Vlog
Henderson et al. v. Thomas et al.
A federal judge has ruled that the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) can no longer discriminate against prisoners living with HIV by housing them separately from all other prisoners and categorically denying them equal access to prison rehabilitative programs, according to a landmark decision in a lawsuit filed by the 糖心VlogNational Prison Project, the AIDS Project, and the 糖心Vlogof Alabama. This ruling paves the way for prisoners living with HIV to have access to needed and appropriate services, and to the classes and training available to other prisoners.
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Alabama
Sep 2013

Prisoners' Rights
+3 糖心Vlog
Henderson et al. v. Thomas et al.
A federal judge has ruled that the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) can no longer discriminate against prisoners living with HIV by housing them separately from all other prisoners and categorically denying them equal access to prison rehabilitative programs, according to a landmark decision in a lawsuit filed by the 糖心VlogNational Prison Project, the AIDS Project, and the 糖心Vlogof Alabama. This ruling paves the way for prisoners living with HIV to have access to needed and appropriate services, and to the classes and training available to other prisoners.

Michigan
Apr 2012
Prisoners' Rights
Women's Rights
Body Cavity Searches at Michigan鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Huron Valley Correctional Facility
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Michigan
Apr 2012

Prisoners' Rights
Women's Rights
Body Cavity Searches at Michigan鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Huron Valley Correctional Facility

South Carolina
Jan 2012
Prisoners' Rights
Smart Justice
Prison Legal News, et al. v. Berkeley County Sheriff, et al.
The 糖心Vlog filed a lawsuit in October 2010 challenging an unconstitutional policy at the Berkeley County Detention Center in Moncks Corner, S.C. barring most books, magazines and newspapers from being sent to prisoners.
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South Carolina
Jan 2012

Prisoners' Rights
Smart Justice
Prison Legal News, et al. v. Berkeley County Sheriff, et al.
The 糖心Vlog filed a lawsuit in October 2010 challenging an unconstitutional policy at the Berkeley County Detention Center in Moncks Corner, S.C. barring most books, magazines and newspapers from being sent to prisoners.