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
In my last post, I spoke generally about the rights of disabled detainees under the Americans with Disabilities Act, (“ADA”), and Rehabilitation Act. In this post, I want to highlight some recent settlements that enforced these rights. These examples are just a slice of what is possible, but they give a snapshot of the ADA… Read More
EAST ST. LOUIS, IL — In a verdict virtually without precedent in Illinois, late yesterday a federal jury found three prison guards and a Department of Corrections nurse personally liable for over $250,000 in punitive damages for an incident in which a handcuffed prisoner at Menard Correctional Center was beaten up and denied access to… Read More
IL Dept. of Corrections on the Hot Seat for Allegedly Refusing FOIA Requests Chicago, IL – Prison Legal News (PLN) filed a lawsuit today in the Circuit Court of Cook County against the Illinois Dept. of Corrections (IDOC), alleging violations of the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). PLN, a monthly news publication that reports… Read More
American prisons are notorious for subjecting prisoners to the risk of sexual violence. Yet, shockingly little is done to stop sexual assault in our prisons, and the public remains not just unconcerned, but sickeningly amused by the problem. Think about how often prison rapes are the punchline of a joke in movies or on television. … Read More
