Special Collection: Solitary confinement

New York prison lawsuit over juvenile solitary confinement settled with reforms to disciplinary practices.

Cookhorne v. Fischer

2012-1791 | New York state trial court

Filed Date: 2012

Case Ongoing

CRIPA investigation of Cresson and Penn. DOC (solitary confinement)

No Court

Filed Date: 2013

Closed Date: 2016

DOJ investigation led to reforms of solitary confinement practices for mentally ill inmates across Pennsylvania prisons.

CRIPA Investigation of the Westchester County Jail, Valhalla, New York

No Court Case | No Court

DOJ jail conditions investigation in Westchester County ended with reforms and settlement.

(This summary is temporary, while we research the case.) In October 2019, four people who had spent years in solitary confinement in North Carolina prisons filed a class-action lawsuit challenging th…

Dewalt v. Hooks

19 CVS 14089 | North Carolina state trial court

Filed Date: 2019

DISABILITY RIGHTS

Berkley v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision

9:25-cv-01242 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

Filed Date: Sept. 8, 2025

Case Ongoing

Challenge to Trump Administration’s move to move federal death row prisoners granted clemency under Biden administration to a supermax prison.

Taylor v. Trump

1:25-cv-01161 | U.S. District Court for the District of District of Columbia

Filed Date: April 16, 2025

Case Ongoing

Anthony v. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision

512871/2024 | New York state trial court

Filed Date: May 8, 2024

Case Ongoing

Challenge to NYS prison system's continued use of solitary confinement for people with disabilities, notwithstanding state statutory bar.

Hammond v. Department of Corrections

2:24-cv-00922 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: March 4, 2024

Case Ongoing

On March 4, 2024, six incarcerated individuals in Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania challenging the constitutionality of solitary confinement in the Pennsylvania De…

Natcone v. Wisconsin Department of Corrections

2:23-cv-01430 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

Filed Date: Oct. 26, 2023

Closed Date: Aug. 6, 2024

Prison healthcare and isolation conditions lawsuit in Wisconsin dismissed.

Challenge to the prolonged solitary confinement of a transgender woman living with HIV.

Monroe v. Precythe

2:23-cv-04129 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri

Filed Date: June 27, 2023

Closed Date: July 18, 2025

Kadamovas v. Federal Bureau of Prisons

2:23-cv-00022 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Filed Date: Jan. 12, 2023

Case Ongoing

Death row solitary confinement conditions lawsuit at Terre Haute federal prison challenges isolation practices.

This is a case about inmates at the Fayette County state prison who alleged that they had been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment in the form of solitary confinement. On October 27, 2022, the …

Bell v. Little

2:22-cv-01516 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: Oct. 27, 2022

Case Ongoing

New York prison guards' lawsuit challenging restrictions on solitary confinement use in state prisons.

NYSCOPBA v. Cuomo

1:21-cv-00535 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

Filed Date: May 7, 2021

Case Ongoing

Disability Rights Connecticut v. Connecticut Department of Correction

3:21-cv-00146 | U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

Filed Date: Feb. 4, 2021

Case Ongoing

Disability rights lawsuit challenges Connecticut prison isolation and shackling practices for mentally ill inmates.

Prison mental health care lawsuit challenging treatment of inmate with bipolar disorder in New York facility.

Suarez v. Annucci

7:20-cv-07133 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Sept. 1, 2020

Case Ongoing

Lebanon County jail religious discrimination case over dreadlocks ban ended in settlement.

Pratt v. Ott

1:20-cv-00171 | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: Jan. 31, 2020

Closed Date: Nov. 22, 2021

Liberty v. Rhode Island Department of Corrections

1:19-cv-00573 | U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

Filed Date: Oct. 25, 2019

Case Ongoing

Prison class action challenging Rhode Island's solitary confinement of mentally ill inmates.

Florida juvenile detention solitary confinement lawsuit dismissed after decertification.

G.H. v. Marstiller

4:19-cv-00431 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida

Filed Date: Sept. 4, 2019

Closed Date: Sept. 8, 2022

Class action challenging Florida prison's use of solitary confinement for disabled inmates remains unresolved.

Harvard v. Inch

4:19-cv-00212 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida

Filed Date: May 8, 2019

Case Ongoing

Georgia Advocacy Office v. Jackson

1:19-cv-01634 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

Filed Date: April 10, 2019

Case Ongoing

Jail conditions lawsuit over treatment of female mental health inmates in Fulton County, Georgia.

Washington v. City of New York

1:18-cv-12306 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Dec. 28, 2018

Case Ongoing

Class action lawsuit over abuse of NYC detainees transferred to Albany County jail settled with reforms and damages.

Babu v. Ahern (Babu v. County of Alameda)

5:18-cv-07677 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: Dec. 21, 2018

Case Ongoing

Jail conditions lawsuit in Alameda County settled with mental health care reforms.

Prison civil rights case challenging prolonged solitary confinement in Illinois remains ongoing.

Gay v. Baldwin

1:19-cv-01133 | U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois

Filed Date: Oct. 28, 2018

Case Ongoing

Juvenile solitary confinement lawsuit in Palm Beach County Jail settled with reforms.

H.C. v. Bradshaw

9:18-cv-80810 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Filed Date: June 21, 2018

Case Ongoing

Mohrbacher v. Alameda County Sheriffs Office

3:18-cv-00050 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: Jan. 4, 2018

Case Ongoing

Prison conditions lawsuit over mistreatment of women inmates in Alameda County, California.

Northcutt v. South Carolina Department of Corrections

4:17-cv-03301 | U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

Filed Date: Dec. 7, 2017

Closed Date: March 24, 2021

Death row inmates' class action challenging prolonged solitary confinement in South Carolina prisons.

Sabata v. Nebraska Department of Correctional Services

4:17-cv-03107 | U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska

Filed Date: Aug. 15, 2017

Closed Date: Dec. 1, 2020

Nebraska prison conditions lawsuit dismissed after COVID-19 and other claims.

Juvenile detention lawsuit over solitary confinement in Broome County jail settled with reforms.

A.T. v. Harder

9:17-cv-00817 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

Filed Date: July 25, 2017

Florida death row class action over solitary confinement conditions settled with reforms.

Davis v. Jones

3:17-cv-00820 | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Filed Date: July 19, 2017

Closed Date: Sept. 17, 2025

Doe v. Grays Harbor County

3:17-cv-05186 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Filed Date: March 14, 2017

Closed Date: 2018

Juvenile detention solitary confinement case against Grays Harbor County settled with reforms.

On January 23, 2017, four minor children confined to the state juvenile facilities Copper Lake School for Girls and Lincoln Hills School for Boys filed this class action in the U.S. District Court fo…

J.J. v. Litscher

3:17-cv-00047 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

Filed Date: Jan. 23, 2017

Case Ongoing

Seitz v. Allegheny County

2:16-cv-01879 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: Dec. 19, 2016

Case Ongoing

Pregnant inmate treatment lawsuit against Allegheny County Jail settled with reforms.

Juvenile detention lawsuit against Onondaga County ended with reforms to solitary confinement practices.

V.W. v. Conway

9:16-cv-01150 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

Filed Date: Sept. 21, 2016

Closed Date: 2019

United States v. Hinds County

3:16-cv-00489 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

Filed Date: June 23, 2016

Case Ongoing

DOJ jail conditions lawsuit against Hinds County, Mississippi, over unsafe facilities and detainee deaths.

Prison class action challenging Illinois' extreme isolation practices in state prisons remains ongoing.

Davis v. Baldwin

3:16-cv-00600 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

Filed Date: June 2, 2016

Case Ongoing

Long-term solitary confinement lawsuit in Pennsylvania settled after court ordered step-down program.

Johnson v. Wetzel

1:16-cv-00863 | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: May 12, 2016

Closed Date: Oct. 17, 2017

Juvenile detention solitary confinement lawsuit against Rutherford County settled with reforms.

Doe v. Hommrich

3:16-cv-00799 | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

Filed Date: April 25, 2016

Case Ongoing

Muslim prisoner's religious freedom lawsuit over beard length and prayer access in Virginia prison settled privately.

Greenhill v. Clarke

7:16-cv-00068 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia

Filed Date: Feb. 19, 2016

Closed Date: Aug. 10, 2020

Rikers Island jail class action over solitary confinement policy settled with reforms.

Parker v. New York

1:15-cv-06733 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Filed Date: Nov. 23, 2015

Case Ongoing

Chavez v. County of Santa Clara

1:15-cv-05277 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: Nov. 18, 2015

Case Ongoing

Santa Clara County Jail class action over solitary confinement settled with reforms.

C-Pod Inmates of Middlesex County Adult Correction Center v. Middlesex County

3:15-cv-07920 | U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Filed Date: Nov. 5, 2015

Case Ongoing

Middlesex County jail solitary confinement lawsuit settled with reforms.

Disability Law Center v. State of Utah

2:15-cv-00645 | U.S. District Court for the District of Utah

Filed Date: Sept. 8, 2015

Case Ongoing

Mental health class action against Utah over jail treatment delays settled with reforms.

Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. v. Coupe

1:15-cv-00688 | U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

Filed Date: Aug. 6, 2015

Case Ongoing

Delaware prison lawsuit over treatment of mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement settled with reforms.

Prison conditions lawsuit challenging Illinois solitary confinement policies was dismissed.

Coleman v. Taylor

1:15-cv-05596 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Filed Date: June 24, 2015

Closed Date: Feb. 11, 2016

Death row inmates' class action over prolonged solitary confinement at San Quentin prison settled with policy changes.

Lopez v. Brown

4:15-cv-02725 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: June 17, 2015

Closed Date: 2018

Indiana prisoner's solitary confinement lawsuit over punitive isolation settled for significant damages.

Vermillion v. Levenhagen

1:15-cv-00605 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Filed Date: April 16, 2015

Closed Date: Oct. 21, 2019

Dorn v. Michigan Department of Corrections

1:15-cv-00359 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan

Filed Date: April 2, 2015

Closed Date: 2018

Prison discrimination lawsuit over HIV segregation policy in Michigan settled.

Georgia prison solitary confinement lawsuit settled with reforms to conditions and time limits.

Gumm v. Jacobs

5:15-cv-00041 | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia

Filed Date: Feb. 12, 2015

Closed Date: May 22, 2025