Prisoners' Rights
Although the state is permitted to deny a person certain rights to liberty and property under criminal justice laws, prisoners retain their rights to other basic protections and freedoms - among these are freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, freedom of religion, the right to legal representation, and the right to due process.
The ACLU works to ensure that conditions of confinement are constitutional and consistent with health, safety, and human dignity.
Press Releases
- ACLU of Pennsylvania Sues Allegheny County for Cruel Detention of Man With Mental Illness - 05/11/18
- ACLU and Abolitionist Law Center Sue Pennsylvania to End Mandatory and Permanent Solitary Confinement for Prisoners Sentenced to Death - 01/25/18
- Allegheny County Jail to Cease Housing Pregnant Inmates in Isolation - 11/09/17
- ACLU of Pennsylvania and The Law Offices of Timothy P. O’Brien Sue Allegheny County for Abuse of Transgender Inmate at Local Jail - 11/06/17
- PA Agrees to Expand Treatment for People with Severe Mental Illness Held in Jail - 06/15/17
- ACLU of PA: Inmates with Mental Illness Continue to Sit in Jails while Waiting for Treatment - 05/11/17
- State House Passes Bill to Expand Incarceration and Its Costs, Says ACLU of Pennsylvania - 04/05/17
- ACLU-PA Settles Lawsuit Over Unconstitutional Delays in Treatment for Hundreds of Defendants With Severe Mental Illness - 01/27/16
- Lawsuit Alleges Many Defendants With Mental Illness Jailed for Well Over a Year Awaiting Mental Health Treatment - 10/22/15
- Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Inmate Denied Ability to Marry - 07/13/15
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Legal Cases
- Reid et al. v. Wetzel
A lawsuit challenging the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ policy of housing inmates sentenced to death in solitary confinement
- Williams v. Allegheny County
A lawsuit filed against Allegheny County on behalf of Jules Williams, a transgender woman who was repeatedly abused while incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail (ACJ).
- Stum v. Thompson
A federal lawsuit on behalf a woman who has been denied the right to marry her fiancé due to Department of Corrections (DOC) policy.
- Seitz v. Allegheny County
A federal class action lawsuit on behalf of pregnant inmates held in solitary confinement in the Allegheny County Jail
- Burton v. Wetzel
A federal lawsuit on behalf of a transgender woman who has been incarcerated in seven different male prisons by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) over the past four years.
» more