Medical and Mental Health Care
Jensen v. Thornell
UPDATE: In a thorough and sweeping injunction issued on April 7, 2023, U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver is requiring the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry (“ADCRR”) to make “substantial” changes to staffing and conditions so that medical care and mental healthcare at Arizona prisons comes up to constitutional standards.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Mississippi
Mar 2017
Medical and Mental Health Care
Prisoners' Rights
Dockery v. Hall
The ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Law Offices of Elizabeth Alexander, and the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, filed a petition for class certification and expert reports for a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF). The lawsuit, which was filed in May 2013, describes the for-profit prison as hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous. EMCF is operated "in a perpetual state of crisis" where prisoners are at "grave risk of death and loss of limbs." The facility, located in Meridian, Mississippi, is supposed to provide intensive treatment to the state's prisoners with serious psychiatric disabilities, many of whom are locked down in long-term solitary confinement.
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9 Medical and Mental Health Care Cases
Rhode Island
Jul 2017
Medical and Mental Health Care
Prisoners' Rights
Inmates of the Rhode Island Training School for Youth v. Piccola
On July 24, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William Smith dismissed the ACLU’s lawsuit against the Rhode Island Training School for Youth, which challenged the deplorable conditions at the institution as violations of the Eighth Amendment. This landmark case is now closed at the behest of the ACLU and the state of Rhode Island because the institution has made the improvements in education, medical care, vocational training, the physical plant, meals, and other conditions required by the consent decree between the state and the plaintiffs.
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Rhode Island
Jul 2017
Medical and Mental Health Care
Prisoners' Rights
Inmates of the Rhode Island Training School for Youth v. Piccola
On July 24, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William Smith dismissed the ACLU’s lawsuit against the Rhode Island Training School for Youth, which challenged the deplorable conditions at the institution as violations of the Eighth Amendment. This landmark case is now closed at the behest of the ACLU and the state of Rhode Island because the institution has made the improvements in education, medical care, vocational training, the physical plant, meals, and other conditions required by the consent decree between the state and the plaintiffs.
Montana
Mar 2017
Medical and Mental Health Care
Langford v. Bullock
This case was filed on behalf of prisoners following a serious disturbance in 1991 at the Montana State Prison (MSP) that resulted in seven deaths. The lawsuit challenges inadequate medical and mental health care, overcrowding, and inadequate environmental and fire safety conditions, classification policy, and sex offender policies. The parties settled all issues except those related to treatment of protective custody prisoners, which were ultimately tried in a separate case filed by the Department of Justice. A settlement was reached in 1995, but it required monitoring by experts to assure compliance with the terms of the settlement.
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Montana
Mar 2017
Medical and Mental Health Care
Langford v. Bullock
This case was filed on behalf of prisoners following a serious disturbance in 1991 at the Montana State Prison (MSP) that resulted in seven deaths. The lawsuit challenges inadequate medical and mental health care, overcrowding, and inadequate environmental and fire safety conditions, classification policy, and sex offender policies. The parties settled all issues except those related to treatment of protective custody prisoners, which were ultimately tried in a separate case filed by the Department of Justice. A settlement was reached in 1995, but it required monitoring by experts to assure compliance with the terms of the settlement.
Court Case
Jul 2010
Medical and Mental Health Care
Prisoners' Rights
Health Care at Ely State Prison
ACLU Lawsuit Charges Grossly Inadequate Medical Care At State Prison In Nevada
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Court Case
Jul 2010
Medical and Mental Health Care
Prisoners' Rights
Health Care at Ely State Prison
ACLU Lawsuit Charges Grossly Inadequate Medical Care At State Prison In Nevada
U.S. Supreme Court
Nov 2009
Medical and Mental Health Care
+3 Issues
Nelson v. Norris
The case of an Arkansas woman who was shackled to her hospital bed while in labor in 2003.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Nov 2009
Medical and Mental Health Care
+3 Issues
Nelson v. Norris
The case of an Arkansas woman who was shackled to her hospital bed while in labor in 2003.