Home : Prisoners' Rights

Legal Aid Society and ACLU Charge Milwaukee County With 13,000 Violations of Court Order to Run Jail Safely and Humanely (09/14/2004)
MILWAUKEE, WI - The Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee and the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin today announced that they are seeking a contempt order against the Milwaukee County and the Sheriff's Department for holding people for days at a time in crowded, degrading and dangerous conditions in the county jail's booking room, in violation of a court-ordered settlement agreement.

In Legal First, Appeals Court Says Texas Prison Officials Can Be Sued for Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation (09/09/2004)
WASHINGTON, DC- In a legal first, a unanimous federal appeals court has ruled that seven ranking Texas prison officials can be sued for damages due to discrimination based on sexual orientation, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today. The ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals came in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of a gay man who was repeatedly raped by prison gangs and whose pleas for help were ignored by officials.

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.

Court Order Ends Discrimination Against HIV+ Prisoners in Mississippi, ACLU Welcomes Hard Fought Reform (06/17/2004)
JACKSON, MS-The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded a federal court order that finally ends all sanctioned discrimination against prisoners with HIV/AIDS who are banned from participation in community work programs because of their illness.