What Happens When Prisoners Go on Strike?

Following the Oregon Department of Corrections’ unconstitutional treatment of a transgender prisoner, a habeas court ordered her removal from segregated housing, an individualized gender-affirming care assessment, a psychiatric evaluation, and identification of an appropriate cellmate. However, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the psychiatric-evaluation and cellmate orders, finding them “too attenuated” to qualify as habeas relief. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative, alongside the ACLU of Oregon, joined an amicus brief by the law firm Sugerman Dahab arguing that habeas courts have broad discretion to remedy violations and resulting harms. The brief explains that the Court of Appeals’ “close connection” test unduly constricts habeas relief, and which should be construed to encompass not only the need to halt ongoing constitutional violations, but also the need to mitigate various harms that may arise from those violations.

Family members of individuals incarcerated in Adams County Jail are challenging a ban on in-person visits on the grounds that it violates their right to familial association under the Colorado Constitution. The district court denied their motion for a preliminary injunction, in part based on its ruling that individuals cannot sue directly under the Colorado Constitution to stop violations of their individual rights if other remedies are theoretically available under state or federal law. If that ruling is left to stand, state constitutional protections could exist in name only, leaving courts unable to stop violations if a plaintiff could potentially proceed under a narrower statutory claim that might provide lesser relief or fail on the facts of the case. This case could therefore have far-reaching implications for the enforceability of constitutional rights across Colorado.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court issued a decision today ruling against Damon Landor, a Rastafari man whose dreadlocks were forcibly shaved by Louisiana prison officials in violation of his religious beliefs In a 6-3 decision, the court held that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act does not allow incarcerated people to seek monetary damages from individual prison officials, leaving people whose religious rights are violated in prison without a meaningful remedy in many cases. Statement from Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief: “Today’s decision is a devastating blow to the religious freedom and dignity of incarcerated people. Prison officials held Damon Landor down and forcibly shaved his dreadlocks in violation of his Rastafarian faith, after throwing in the trash a copy of a binding federal court order confirming prisoners’ religious right to wear dreadlocks. By denying Mr. Landor a meaningful remedy, the Supreme Court has made it harder to hold prison officials accountable when they violate the rights of people in their custody. “Religious freedom does not stop at the prison gate, and civil rights are real only when they can be enforced. This decision sends a dangerous message that prison officials may escape accountability even for egregious violations of federal law. The ACLU will continue fighting to ensure that incarcerated people can practice their faith, protect their bodily autonomy, and seek justice when their rights are violated.” The ACLU’s amicus brief in this case is part of the Joan and Irwin Jacobs docket.

ACLU class-action lawsuit urges state of Colorado to release children from jails to community-based settings while awaiting decisions in their juvenile delinquency cases. Kids with disabilities and foster children are particularly vulnerable.