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Sheriff Illegally Withholding Records on Orleans Parish Prison, ACLU Lawsuit Charges (11/10/2005)
BATON ROUGE, LA--The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana today filed a lawsuit charging that Orleans Parish Prison officials are violating state law by refusing to turn over public records that would shine light on why prisoners were abandoned when Hurricane Katrina struck.

ACLU Calls on New Orleans City Council to Hold Hearing on Plans to Re-Open Prison (10/21/2005)
NEW ORLEANS -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana today sent letters to New Orleans City Council members urging them to immediately schedule a hearing on plans to re-open the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP), which the ACLU says plunged into chaos after Hurricane Katrina hit.

Roderick Keith Johnson Speaks Out About Verdict in Prison Rape Case (10/19/2005)
WICHITA FALLS, TX -- Roderick Keith Johnson, a gay former prisoner who was repeatedly raped and sold as a sex slave by prison gangs, today expressed disappointment in a jury verdict dismissing his civil lawsuit against the prison officials who ignored his pleas for help.

Men Tell Court They Were Left to Drown in New Orleans Prison (10/06/2005)
NEW ORLEANS -- In legal papers filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union, two men detained on minor charges recount disturbing details of being abandoned without food or water in over-crowded, flooded cells for days at the Orleans Parish Prison during Hurricane Katrina. The ACLU submitted declarations from the men, who have since been released from prison, along with an emergency request to allow attorneys to inspect the prison before officials remove evidence.

ACLU Seeks Information on the Fate of 6,500 New Orleans Prisoners (09/28/2005)
NEW ORLEANS - Citing eyewitness reports of locked prisoners being abandoned to drown in their cells in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the American Civil Liberties Union today demanded access to the relocated prisoners it represents under a longstanding class-action lawsuit over prison conditions.

Prison Sex Slave Trial Set to Begin in Texas (09/16/2005)
WICHITA FALLS, TX- After enduring 18 months in a Texas prison where gangs bought and sold him as a sexual slave, Roderick Johnson will appear in federal district court Monday for the first day of his civil trial against the prison officials who failed to protect him, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today.

ACLU Sues Major Medical Provider Over Deficient Care in Mississippi Prison (06/22/2005)
WASHINGTON, DC -- Citing the extreme health risks faced by nearly 1000 men confined in a Mississippi prison, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Holland & Knight LLP today filed a lawsuit against one of the country's largest for-profit medical providers for prisoners.

Supreme Court's Decision Upholds Prisoners' Due Process Protections, But Limits Their Reach (06/13/2005)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling today that the extreme deprivation and punishment found in ""supermax"" prisons warrant protections for prisoners' due process rights, but the group expressed disappointment that more extensive protections were rejected.

ACLU and Center for Constitutional Rights Argue Prison Rights Case Before U.S. Supreme Court (03/30/2005)
""This case presents the same issue as the Guantanamo cases decided last spring,"" said Staughton Lynd, an ACLU of Ohio volunteer attorney and trial counsel in Austin. ""What due process is required before indefinite solitary confinement can be imposed on any human being?""

ACLU Applauds Supreme Court Decision Protecting Prisoners from Racial Discrimination (02/23/2005)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today hailed a Supreme Court decision rejecting the use of racial segregation as a routine method of prison administration. The Court first held that racially segregated prisons were unconstitutional in a 1968 case brought by the ACLU.

Indiana's "Supermax" Confinement Worsens Mental Illness in Prisoners, ACLU Charges (02/03/2005)
INDIANAPOLIS - The extreme isolation and sensory deprivation found in Indiana's Secured Housing Unit spurred four suicides and numerous self-mutilations by mentally ill prisoners, said the American Civil Liberties Union today in a lawsuit filed against state prison officials.

Man Raped by Prison Guard Receives Money Damages in ACLU Lawsuit (12/02/2004)
WASHINGTON- A 25-year-old Texas prisoner, who was repeatedly raped by a prison guard with a history of sexual assault, accepted a settlement in which his rapist and the assistant warden who failed to protect him agreed to pay substantial money damages, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today.

Federal Court Hears Arguments in ACLU of Arkansas Lawsuit Over Unsafe Prison Conditions (12/01/2004)
LITTLE ROCK -- Trial began today in a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas on behalf of prisoners who charge that their health is at serious risk because of fire and safety violations at a Faulkner County prison, including failure to perform tuberculosis tests on prisoners as required by the state health department.

Federal Court Hears Arguments in ACLU of Arkansas Lawsuit Over Unsafe Prison Conditions (12/01/2004)
LITTLE ROCK -- Trial began today in a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas on behalf of prisoners who charge that their health is at serious risk because of fire and safety violations at a Faulkner County prison, including failure to perform tuberculosis tests on prisoners as required by the state health department.

County Jail Failing to Test Prisoners for Tuberculosis as Required by Department of Health, ACLU of Arkansas Charges (10/08/2004)
LITTLE ROCK--The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas today announced that is charging officials at the Faulkner County Detention Center with endangering the health of prisoners and the public by not performing skin tests for tuberculosis (TB) on prisoners as required by the state health department. The ACLU said the county is also in violation of Arkansas Fire and Life Safety Codes regarding occupancy.

Maryland Officials Seek to End Federal Consent Decree Despite Persistent Constitutional Violations at Baltimore Jail (08/25/2004)
BALTIMORE -- At a hearing today before U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Motz, the American Civil Liberties Union and Public Justice Center countered Maryland officials' attempt to end a federal consent decree governing conditions at the Baltimore City Detention Center, where constitutional violations persist.

Louisiana Appeals Court Hears ACLU Arguments in Prison Sex Slave Case (07/07/2004)
NEW ORLEANS - In a lawsuit filed on behalf of a gay African-American man who was repeatedly raped by Texas prison gangs, the American Civil Liberties Union today urged a federal appeals court to uphold a district court ruling that denied prison officials qualified immunity for their failure to protect him.

Dangerous Threat of Heat-Related Illness Prompts Appeals Court to Affirm Order to Cool Supermax Prison (07/02/2004)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that prison officials must cool prisoners' cells at a super-maximum facility where the heat index is known to have reached 125 degrees.

Appeals Court Affirms that Mississippi Death Row Conditions are Unconstitutional (06/30/2004)
NEW ORLEANS-In the most comprehensive decision regarding death row conditions in the last ten years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has affirmed a lower court's opinion that Mississippi's death row is unconstitutional and requires improvements, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Holland & Knight announced today.

At Hearing on Health Conditions for HIV+ Prisoners, ACLU Says Officials Failed to Prevent Staph Infection Outbreak (06/28/2004)
OXFORD, MS- At a federal court hearing today on health conditions for Mississippi prisoners with HIV, the American Civil Liberties Union presented evidence that prison officials failed to prevent a drug-resistant staphylococcus outbreak within the men's unit for HIV-positive prisoners.