Special Collection: Solitary confinement

The case was brought on behalf of about 2,000 inmates confined in administrative segregation in four California prisons. A class action civil rights suit under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 was filed on Aug. 1…

Toussaint v. McCarthy

73-01422 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: 1973

NATIONAL SECURITY

In re Application of the FBI for an Order Requiring the Production of Tangible Things From [Redacted], BR 10-49

10-00049 | Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court

Filed Date: 2010

Closed Date: Oct. 29, 2010

For the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse collection of FISA matters, see our special collection. On January 17, 2014, the Director of National Intelligence authorized the declassification and pu…

CRIPA investigation of NYC Department of Correction Jails on Rikers Island

No Court Case | No Court

On Monday, August 4, 2014, Eric Holder, United States Attorney General, and Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, published a findings letter concerning the…

On November 22, 2011, the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision sentenced the plaintiff, a 17-year-old prisoner, to four years in solitary confinement following a disciplinary …

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

On November 30, 2011, the Department of Justice opened this investigation into conditions of confinement at the State Correctional Institution in Cresson, Pennsylvania, under the Civil Rights of Inst…

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

No Court Case | No Court

On August 30, 2007 the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) notified the County of Westchester that it was opening an investigation into the conditions of the Westchester County Jail (“WCJ”) in Valhalla, Ne…

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

This is a case about healthcare and isolation practices at Wisconsin prisons. On October 26, 2023, inmates at Wisconsin prisons brought a class action suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Ea…

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

This is a lawsuit challenging solitary confinement conditions for individuals on death row in the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. When this suit was filed, the U.S. Penitentiary i…

This is a case challenging New York policies aimed at limiting solitary confinement in prisons. New York began limiting the use of solitary confinement as a sanctioning tool in prisons in 2012. Simul…

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

This lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut challenged prolonged isolation and in-cell shackling imposed on people with mental illness in the custody of the Connecticut De…

This is a damages case about a man with bipolar schizoaffective disorder who alleges prison officials and doctors denied him mental health treatment while he was incarcerated at New York Downstate Co…

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

On February 4, 2020, a person in pretrial detention at the Lebanon County Correctional Facility (LCCF) in Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit pro se in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pen…

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

On October 25, 2019, detainees with serious and persistent mental illness who were held in solitary confinement—many for prolonged periods of time—filed this putative class action lawsuit along with …

On September 4, 2019, three minors—through their legal guardians—filed a complaint against the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Flo…

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

Six incarcerated persons with mental or physical disabilities from the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) filed a class action complaint against the Secretary of the FDC and FDC in the U.S. Dist…

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

On April 10, 2019, two female detainees in the South Fulton Municipal Regional Jail and the Georgia Advocacy Office filed this class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Distric…

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

On December 28, 2018, four pre-trial detainees filed this putative class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs sued the New York City Departm…

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

On December 21, 2018, detainees at California’s Alameda County Jail filed a class-action complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against the County of Alameda in the U.S. District Court for t…

This case addresses the Illinois Department of Corrections’ treatment of a prisoner during two decades of solitary confinement. Initially, the prisoner had been sentenced to serve seven years in pris…

Gay v. Baldwin

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

Filed Date: Oct. 28, 2018

Case Ongoing

Three children charged as adults who were being or had been held in solitary confinement in Palm Beach County Jail filed this class-action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern…

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

On January 4, 2018, six women prisoners filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleging systematic, misogynistic mistreatment of women prisoners at the A…

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

Case Ongoing

On December 7, 2017, eighteen death row prisoners in the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) alleged they had been kept in solitary confinement at the Broad River Correctional Institution…

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

On August 15, 2017, eleven prisoners filed a putative class action complaint against the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) and the Nebraska Board of Parole (BOP) in the U.S. Distric…

On July 25, 2017, two minors, represented by Legal Services of Central New York, filed this putative class-action civil-rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York…

A.T. v. Harder

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

Filed Date: July 25, 2017

On July 19, 2017, death-row inmates in Florida filed this lawsuit alleging that the practice of placing death-row inmates in solitary confinement indefinitely violated their Eighth and Fourteenth Ame…

Davis v. Jones

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

Filed Date: July 19, 2017

Case Ongoing

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

On March 14, 2017, a teenage boy who had formerly been in the Grays Harbor County Juvenile Detention Facility’s custody brought this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Was…

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

On December 19, 2016, five pregnant women in Allegheny County Jail (ACJ) brought this suit against Allegheny County and jail officers in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvan…

On September 21, 2016, six named plaintiffs filed this class action lawsuit against Onondaga County in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. Represented by the New York Civil…

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

On May 21, 2015, the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) completed an investigation into Hinds County, Mississippi, over conditions at the Hinds County Adult Detent…

On June 2, 2016, a group of prisoners of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) filed this class-action lawsuit against the IDOC in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinoi…

Davis v. Baldwin

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

Filed Date: June 2, 2016

Case Ongoing

On May 12, 2016, an inmate who had been in solitary confinement since 1979 filed this lawsuit in the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff, represented by the Abolitio…

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

On April 25, 2016, a minor pre-trial detainee in the Rutherford County Detention Facility (“the Facility”) filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The plai…

Doe v. Hommrich

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

Filed Date: April 25, 2016

Case Ongoing

On February 19, 2016, the plaintiff, a Muslim person incarcerated at the Red Onion State Prison, filed this pro se lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, alleging a …

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

On November 23, 2015, a former pre-trial detainee who had been confined for over 100 days at Rikers Island, a jail run by the New York City Department of Corrections (NYCDOC), filed this class action…

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

On November 18, 2015, pretrial detainees at the Santa Clara County Jail filed this class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Northern California. The plaintiffs had been imprisoned in solit…

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

On November 5, 2015, the plaintiffs, nine pretrial detainees, filed this class action in the United States District Court of New Jersey. The plaintiffs sued Middlesex County under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 fo…

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

On September 8, 2015, the Disability Law Center, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of individuals with disabilities, and three individuals who were charged with criminal offenses but…

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

On August 6, 2015, Delaware's Community Legal Aid Society filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The plaintiffs sued the Delaware Department of Correction under 4…

Plaintiffs filed a complaint on June 24, 2015, challenging the policies and practices of the Illinois Department of Corrections relating to solitary confinement. It alleged that Illinois uses extreme…

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

On June 17, 2015, death row prisoners at California's San Quentin prison, who had been kept in prolonged solitary confinement, filed this class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the North…

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

On July 12, 2011, a prisoner subjected to long-term solitary confinement filed this pro se complaint against various officials at the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) in the U.S. District Cou…

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

On April 2, 2015, a HIV positive prisoner filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. The plaintiff sued under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act …

On February 12, 2015, a prisoner in the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison (GDCP) filed this lawsuit, pro se, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Georgia. The plaintiff …

Gumm v. Jacobs

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

Filed Date: Feb. 12, 2015

Case Ongoing

DePaola v. Virginia Department of Corrections

7:14-cv-00692 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia

Filed Date: Dec. 19, 2014

Closed Date: 2017

On December 19, 2014, three Virginia prisoners placed in administrative segregation at Red Onion State Prison, filed this pro-se lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District o…

On November 20th, 2014, four persons convicted of capital murder, sentenced to death, and awaiting execution of that sentence while confined on death row at Virginia’s Sussex I State Prison (SISP) fi…

Porter v. Clarke

1:14-cv-01588 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Filed Date: Nov. 20, 2014

Closed Date: May 6, 2019

Farris v. Franklin County

4:14-cv-05083 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

Filed Date: Aug. 2, 2014

Closed Date: Dec. 13, 2019

On August 2, 2014, detainees at the Franklin County Jail filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Franklin County. The plaintif…

Disability Rights Montana v. Opper

2:14-cv-00025 | U.S. District Court for the District of Montana

Filed Date: March 31, 2014

Closed Date: March 31, 2016

On March 31, 2014, Disability Rights Montana (DRM), a not-for-profit advocating for individuals with serious mental illness incarcerated at the Montana State Prison, filed this lawsuit in the United …

On December 17, 2013, prisoners currently or previously incarcerated in solitary confinement at Colorado State Penitentiary ("CSP") filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Distric…

Decoteau v. Raemisch

1:13-cv-03399 | U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Filed Date: Dec. 17, 2013

Closed Date: 2016

Does v. Michigan Department of Corrections

13-001196-CZ | Michigan state trial court

Filed Date: Dec. 9, 2013

Case Ongoing

On December 9, 2013, a group of unidentified minors who were incarcerated in Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) adult prisons filed this putative class action lawsuit against the MDOC in the M…

On November 24, 2013, a prisoner detained at Cook County Jail (CCJ) filed a handwritten civil action against Cook County in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The plaintiff as…

Hudson v. Preckwinkle

1:13-cv-08752 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Filed Date: Nov. 24, 2013

Closed Date: 2016

On October 4, 2013, a death row inmate at the Connecticut Northern Correctional Institution (NCI) filed this lawsuit pro se in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. The plaintiff s…

Reynolds v. Arnone

3:13-cv-01465 | U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

Filed Date: Oct. 4, 2013

Case Ongoing

On May 8, 2013, a prisoner in Pennsylvania's state prisons filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff sued the Secretary of the Pennsylvania…

Shoatz v. Wetzel

2:13-cv-00657 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: May 8, 2013

Closed Date: 2016

Hernandez v. County of Monterey

5:13-cv-02354 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: March 23, 2013

Case Ongoing

On May 23, 2013, prisoners and recently released prisoners from Monterey County Jail filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs sued the Cou…

Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania v. Wetzel

1:13-cv-00635 | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: March 11, 2013

Closed Date: Jan. 15, 2015

On March 11, 2013, the Disability Rights Network (DRN), a Pennsylvania non-profit, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against the Pennsylvania Department of…

Cunningham v. Federal Bureau of Prisons

1:12-cv-01570 | U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Filed Date: June 18, 2012

Case Ongoing

On June 18, 2012, prisoners at an Administrative Maximum Facility prison in Florence (ADX), filed this class-action lawsuit in the District of Colorado against the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and…

On May 15, 2020, the plaintiffs, inmates at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, filed a complaint pro se in the District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, claiming that their indefinit…

Isby-Israel v. Wynn

2:12-cv-00116 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Filed Date: May 15, 2012

Case Ongoing

On May 1, 2012, the family of a deceased prisoner formerly held at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum in Florence, Colorado ("ADX") filed a Bivens action in the United States Distr…

Vega v. Davis

1:12-cv-01144 | U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Filed Date: May 1, 2012

Closed Date: 2016

This case is a direct descendant of Gamez v. Ryan, docket number CV-10-2070-PHX-JWS (MEA). That case was dismissed with prejudice on March 21, 2012 after the district court judge determined that the …

Parsons v. Ryan

2:12-cv-00601 | U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

Filed Date: March 22, 2012

Case Ongoing

Cantell v. Commissioner of Correction

1284-cv-0250 | Massachusetts state trial court

Filed Date: Jan. 20, 2012

Closed Date: March 30, 2022

On January 20, 2012, prisoners incarcerated in Massachusetts administrative segregation filed this class action in state court in Massachusetts. Represented by the Prisoners Legal Services of Massach…

Nunez and United States v. City of New York

1:11-cv-05845 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Aug. 18, 2011

Case Ongoing

On August 18, 2011, a class of incarcerated people filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for cruel and unusual punishment against th…

Snider v. Superintendent, Wabash Valley Correctional Facility

1:11-cv-00731 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Filed Date: May 31, 2011

Closed Date: 2014

On May 31, 2011, prisoners incarcerated in the Special Confinement Unit at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana u…

Peoples v. Fischer (Peoples v. Annucci)

1:11-cv-02694 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: April 18, 2011

Case Ongoing

On April 18, 2011, a prisoner formerly incarcerated at the New York State Green Haven Correctional Facility (GHCF) filed this pro se lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ne…

On February 7, 2011, six Hawaii residents of Native Hawaiian ancestry held in for-profit prisons filed this state court class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and those similarly situated. Each…

Davis v. Abercrombie

1:11-cv-00144 | U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii

Filed Date: Feb. 7, 2011

Closed Date: May 22, 2017

Anderson v. State of Colorado

1:10-cv-01005 | U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Filed Date: May 3, 2010

Closed Date: 2015

On May 3, 2010, a prisoner with mental illness incarcerated at a “supermax” facility in the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of…

On April 1, 2010, five current and former prisoners in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) who were transferred to experimental "Communications Management Units" (CMUs), and two spouses of tho…

Aref v. Holder

1:10-cv-00539 | U.S. District Court for the District of District of Columbia

Filed Date: April 1, 2010

Closed Date: April 21, 2022

On December 9, 2009, two prisoners at California's Pelican Bay prison who had been kept in solitary confinement for decades filed this § 1983 action against the State of California in the U.S. Distri…

Ashker v. Brown

4:09-cv-05796 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: Dec. 9, 2009

Closed Date: March 11, 2024

MENTAL HEALTH (FACILITY)

Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services (IPAS) Commission v. Commissioner, Indiana Department of Correction

1:08-cv-01317 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Filed Date: Oct. 1, 2008

Case Ongoing

On Oct. 1, 2008, the Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services Commission (IPAS) filed this lawsuit on behalf of a group of prisoners with serious mental illness in the U.S. District Court for the Sou…

Disability Law Center v. Massachusetts Department of Correction

1:07-cv-10463 | U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Filed Date: March 8, 2007

Closed Date: 2017

On March 8, 2007, the Disability Law Center ("DLC") filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C.…

On July 22, 2005, a detainee at Guantánamo Bay Naval Station, by his next friend, filed this petition for writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Represented by…

Dhiab v. Obama

1:05-cv-01457 | U.S. District Court for the District of District of Columbia

Filed Date: July 22, 2005

Closed Date: 2017

On June 22, 2005, attorneys for the local ACLU and the ACLU National Prison Project filed a class-action § 1983 lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi on behalf o…

Presley v. Epps

4:05-cv-00148 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi

Filed Date: June 22, 2005

Closed Date: 2012

T.R. v. South Carolina Department of Corrections

2005-CP-40-02925 | South Carolina state trial court

Filed Date: June 10, 2005

Case Ongoing

On June 10, 2005, inmates suffering from serious mental illness filed this class action lawsuit in the Fifth Circuit Court of South Carolina, a state trial court, against the South Carolina Departmen…

Mast v. Indiana Department of Corrections

2:05-cv-00037 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Filed Date: Feb. 3, 2005

Closed Date: July 23, 2019

On February 3, 2005, inmates confined to the Secured Housing Unit ("SHU") at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Indiana filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Souther…

On June 28, 2004, a prisoner at the Nebraska State Penitentiary (NSP) and transferred to the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution (TSCI) filed this lawsuit after being severely injured by prison g…

El-Tabech v. Houston

4:04-cv-03231 | U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska

Filed Date: June 28, 2004

Closed Date: 2012

Connecticut v. Northern Correctional Institution

3:03-cv-01352 | U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

Filed Date: Aug. 6, 2003

Closed Date: 2008

On August 6, 2003, the State of Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities (OPA) filed a § 1983 lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Connecticut against the Connecti…

On February 13, 2003, a prisoner in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC), filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the DOC…

Freeman v. Berge

3:03-cv-00021 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

Filed Date: Feb. 13, 2003

Closed Date: 2006

DiMarco v. Wyoming Department of Corrections

1:03-cv-01006 | U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming

Filed Date: Jan. 24, 2003

Closed Date: Jan. 24, 2007

This is a case about a woman with intersex traits challenging her confinement in isolation while incarcerated. Even though the plaintiff had lived her entire life as a woman, prison staff determined …

In October 2002, prisoners confined at the Special Controls Facilities within the New Mexico State penal system filed a Section 1983 class action suit in the District of New Mexico against officials …

Ayers v. Perry

1:02-cv-01438 | U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico

Filed Date: Nov. 14, 2002

Closed Date: 2003

Disability Advocates, Inc. [DAI] v. New York State Office of Mental Health

1:02-cv-04002 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: May 28, 2002

Closed Date: Aug. 8, 2017

On May 28, 2002, Disability Advocates, Inc., along with other public interest groups, filed a civil rights lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of…

On May 8, 2002, a prisoner at the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility in Boscobel, Wisconsin filed a pro se lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against the Wisconsin Department of Corrections in the U.S. Dis…

Gilles v. Litscher

1:02-cv-00463 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

Filed Date: May 8, 2002

On January 17, 2002, a prisoner confined at the Supermax Correctional Institution (Supermax) in Boscobel, Wisconsin, filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the United States District Court for the…

Lindell v. Frank

3:02-cv-00021 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

Filed Date: Jan. 17, 2002

Closed Date: 2005

NOTE: Documents relating to the prison overcrowding proceedings in this case under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, which led to imposition of a statewide prison population cap, affirmed by the Supr…

Plata v. Newsom

4:01-cv-01351 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: Aug. 20, 2001

Case Ongoing

On February 7, 2001, prisoners at the Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, filed this lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Connecticut Department of Corrections in the U.S. Di…

Joslyn v. Armstrong

3:01-cv-00198 | U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

Filed Date: Feb. 7, 2001

Closed Date: 2001

On January 9, 2001, inmates at the Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP), represented by the ACLU, filed a Section 1983 class action suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against …

Austin v. Wilkinson

4:01-cv-00071 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

Filed Date: Jan. 9, 2001

On September 25, 2000, prisoners confined at the Supermax Correctional Institution in Boscobel, Wisconsin, and the Waupun Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin, filed a class action lawsuit u…

Jones'el v. Berge

3:00-cv-00421 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

Filed Date: Sept. 25, 2000

Closed Date: 2008

Lira v. Director of Corrections

3:00-cv-00905 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: March 14, 2000

Closed Date: June 22, 2012

On March 14, 2000, an inmate in California corrections system (CDCR) filed this lawsuit in District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiff sued the Secretary of CDCR in his offi…

Haverty v. Commissioner of Correction

95-3634 | Massachusetts state trial court

Filed Date: June 30, 1995

Closed Date: May 28, 2009

On June 30, 1995, prisoners at MCI-Cedar Junction (MCI) filed this § 1983 suit in Suffolk Superior Court against the Massachusetts Department of Correction, alleging violations of their Fourteenth Am…

On August 9, 1994, a prisoner at Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The prisoner sued the state of California under…

Castillo v. Alameida

3:94-cv-02847 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: Aug. 9, 1994

Closed Date: 2004

On May 6, 1992, inmates at the Maximum Control Complex in Westville, Indiana (MCC) filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against the Governor of Indiana, and the State Department of Co…

Taifa v. Bayh

3:92-cv-00429 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana

Filed Date: May 6, 1992

Closed Date: 2009

On October 26, 1990, prisoners at the Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the California Department of Corrections in the…

Madrid v. Gomez

3:90-cv-03094 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: Oct. 26, 1990

Closed Date: 2011

On February 8, 1985, six prisoners housed at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute-Cedar Junction Department Segregation Unit (DSU) ("10 Block plaintiffs") sent a letter entitled "An Open Letter …

Hoffer v. Fair

1991-J-0376 | Massachusetts state appellate court

Filed Date: Feb. 8, 1985

Closed Date: 1993

Several prisoners at the Marion Federal Penitentiary, represented by private counsel, on July 24, 1984, filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983-based complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District o…

Bruscino v. Carlson

4:84-cv-04320 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

Filed Date: July 24, 1984

Closed Date: June 19, 1989

In 1983, inmates at the Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois who had been confined to segregation for 90 or more consecutive days filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the…

Davenport v. DeRobertis

1:83-04392 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Filed Date: July 8, 1983

Closed Date: Oct. 17, 1988

In 1977, prisoners at the Maryland Penitentiary and the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center, represented by the Prisoner Assistance Project, filed a Section 1983 class action su…

Nelson v. Collins

1:77-00116 | U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

Filed Date: Jan. 25, 1977

Closed Date: 1997

On 01/11/2007, six inmates in the "awaiting trial" section of the Adult Correctional Institutions of Rhode Island (ACI) filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against the Rhode Island Department of Co…

Palmigiano v. Garrahy

1:74-cv-00172 | U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

Filed Date: July 16, 1974

Case Ongoing

Plaintiffs, a group of federal prisoners housed in a highly restrictive setting and represented by private counsel from the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance's Marion Prisoners' Rights Project, the AC…

Bono v. Saxbe

3:74-cv-00081 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

Filed Date: April 8, 1974

Closed Date: Dec. 24, 1980

Toussaint v. McCarthy / Wright v. Enonmoto

3:73-cv-01422 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Filed Date: Aug. 15, 1973

Closed Date: Feb. 13, 1997

In 1973, prisoners confined in administrative segregation in four California state prisons - San Quentin, Folsom, Dueul Vocational Institute at Tracy, and the Correctional Training Facility at Soleda…

In 1972, a group of unconvicted detainees who had been housed in administrative segregation at the New York City House of Detention for Men filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against the New York …

Giampetruzzi v. Malcolm

1:72-cv-04735 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Filed Date: Nov. 8, 1972