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DOJ investigation finds that Louisiana’s practice of prisoner overdetention violates 14th Amendment

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Yesterday, the Department of Justice issued a report finding that Louisiana’s longstanding practice of overdetaining freed prisoners violates the US Constitution. The DOJ investigation determined that the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (LDOC) “incarcerates thousands of individuals each year beyond their legal release dates in violation of the 14th Amendment of the US… Read More

Advocates Charge Illinois With Still Failing to Protect Medically Vulnerable Prisoners From COVID-19 Illness & Death

IDOC suit consortium

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Amended complaint alleges IDOC has still failed to protect medically vulnerable in Illinois’ prisons CHICAGO, IL (May 21, 2020) – Last night, civil rights attorneys filed an amended suit in a class action case, now called Richard v. Pritzker, demanding that state officials speed the release of prisoners who are highly vulnerable to COVID-19.  … Read More

Hearing Today About Whether Sheriff Dart Must Provide Evidence About Compliance With Court Order on COVID-19 in Jail

Chicago Community Bond Fund photo

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Detainee Declarations and Sheriff’s Own Admissions Show He is Failing to Provide Testing and Social Distancing CHICAGO, May 21, 2020 — A federal court judge will hold a hearing this afternoon about detainees’ claims that Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart is not complying with a court order to protect detainees’ health and safety. The hearing… Read More

Federal Court to Hold Hearing on Adequacy of Cook County Jail’s Social Distancing Measures

Cook County Jail NYT

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Today, a federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois will hear arguments on whether or not precautions being taken by Cook County Jail are constitutionally adequate. Attorneys representing people incarcerated in Cook County Jail will argue that social distancing is essential to protect the health of people incarcerated in the jail and constitutionally required.… Read More

Suit Filed Against Bureaucratic Incompetence Preventing On-Time Release of Inmates Amidst Pandemic

Lovey & Lovey Civil Rights Law Firm

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NEW ORLEANS, LA. – A lawsuit filed today against the head of the Louisiana Department of Corrections, Secretary James LeBlanc, seeks justice and rightful compensation for thousands of Louisianans unlawfully held in prisons and jails well past their legal release dates, due only to bureaucratic incompetence. Secretary LeBlanc–who has known for years that the Department… Read More

1000s of Elderly & Medically Vulnerable Prisoners to Remain Behind Bars as Judge Refuses to Issue Emergency Order

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Illinois prisoners are left vulnerable to COVID-19 and unable to safely shelter in place; litigation will continue to fight for their lives CHICAGO, IL (April 11, 2020) – Yesterday evening a federal judge refused an emergency request by attorneys in a class action case, Money v. Pritzker, which demanded that state officials speed the critical… Read More

Federal Court Affirms Government’s Responsibility to Protect Incarcerated People from COVID-19

Cook County Jail NYT

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Judge Kennelly rules that Sheriff Dart must implement policies ensuring sanitation, testing, social distancing at intake and the distribution of personal protective equipment A federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois today ordered Sheriff Thomas Dart to implement additional social distancing and sanitary measures Cook County Jail as part of his constitutional obligation to… Read More

The Era of Mass Incarceration

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In one of her first speeches of the 2016 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton spoke of ending the “era of mass incarceration” and furthered the spotlight on the troubling issue of over-incarceration in this country.  Tony Newman, of the Huffington Post, recently noted that “America is the number one jailer in the planet, with under five… Read More