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KC v Nedelkoff

Last Update: August 21, 2009

What's at Stake

On June 12, 2008 the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit challenging inhumane practices – punitive solitary confinement, routine strip searches, and other forms of abuse – at the Brownwood State School, a youth prison in central Texas.

There are currently more than 14,000 girls incarcerated in the United States, a number that has been rapidly increasing in recent decades. Most of these girls are arrested for minor, nonviolent offenses and probation violations. Locked up under the guise of rehabilitation, girls nationwide – the vast majority of whom have been sexually and/or physically abused – are subjected to abuse. Meanwhile, they are denied the mental health care, education, and social services they need. Far from helping girls cope with the trauma they have suffered, youth prisons re-traumatize them and further impede their rehabilitation.

ACLU FEATURE: Girls Confined to Youth Prisons in the United States

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