Prisoners' Rights
Zyst v. Miller
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 Ƶ’s State Supreme Court Initiative, alongside the Ƶ 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.
Status: Ongoing
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Arizona
Jul 2026
Prisoners' Rights
Jensen v. Thornell
UPDATE: On July 17, 2026, U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver issued an order formally appointing a receiver to assume control and management of health care provided to more than 25,000 people incarcerated in Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry (ADCRR) prisons, in a long-running lawsuit against the state prison system brought by the Prison Law Office, the Ƶ (Ƶ), Ƶ of Arizona, and Disability Rights Arizona. More details here.
Court Case
Sep 2022
Prisoners' Rights
Alex A. v. Edwards
The Ƶ National Prison Project and partner civil rights attorneys filed a federal class-action lawsuit to prevent the transfer of children in the custody of Louisiana's Office of Juvenile Justice to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola Prison.
Texas
Jul 2021
Prisoners' Rights
Criminal Law Reform
Sanchez et al v. Dallas County Sheriff et al
Decarceration has always been an emergency, a life and death proposition, but COVID-19 makes this effort intensely urgent. The Ƶ has been working with our partners to litigate for the rights of those who are incarcerated and cannot protect themselves because of the policies of the institutions in which they are jailed.
Mississippi
Mar 2017
Prisoners' Rights
Smart Justice
Dockery v. Hall
The Ƶ, 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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66 Prisoners' Rights Cases
Louisiana
Apr 2020
Prisoners' Rights
Criminal Law Reform
Livas v. Myers et al.
Decarceration has always been an emergency, a life and death proposition, but COVID-19 makes this effort intensely urgent. The Ƶ has been working with our partners to litigate for the rights of those who are incarcerated and cannot protect themselves because of the policies of the institutions in which they are jailed.
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Louisiana
Apr 2020
Prisoners' Rights
Criminal Law Reform
Livas v. Myers et al.
Decarceration has always been an emergency, a life and death proposition, but COVID-19 makes this effort intensely urgent. The Ƶ has been working with our partners to litigate for the rights of those who are incarcerated and cannot protect themselves because of the policies of the institutions in which they are jailed.
Court Case
Apr 2020
Prisoners' Rights
McMenamin V. Souza
On April 1, 2020, the Ƶ National Prison Project, Ƶ Immigrants’ Rights Project, and Ƶ of Massachusetts, Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program Boston University School of Law, Demissie & Church, and Graves & Doyle filed McMenamin v. Souza et al in the District of Massachusetts on behalf of immigrants detained at the Bristol County House of Correction.
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Court Case
Apr 2020
Prisoners' Rights
McMenamin V. Souza
On April 1, 2020, the Ƶ National Prison Project, Ƶ Immigrants’ Rights Project, and Ƶ of Massachusetts, Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program Boston University School of Law, Demissie & Church, and Graves & Doyle filed McMenamin v. Souza et al in the District of Massachusetts on behalf of immigrants detained at the Bristol County House of Correction.
Court Case
Apr 2020
Prisoners' Rights
Zelaya V. Archambeault
On April 3, 2020, the Ƶ National Prison Project, Ƶ Immigrants’ Rights Project, Ƶ of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and the Ƶ Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & HIV Project filed Zelaya et al v. Archambeault et al in the Southern District of California on behalf of immigrants detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center and Imperial Regional Detention Facility in California.
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Court Case
Apr 2020
Prisoners' Rights
Zelaya V. Archambeault
On April 3, 2020, the Ƶ National Prison Project, Ƶ Immigrants’ Rights Project, Ƶ of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and the Ƶ Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & HIV Project filed Zelaya et al v. Archambeault et al in the Southern District of California on behalf of immigrants detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center and Imperial Regional Detention Facility in California.
Court Case
Apr 2020
Prisoners' Rights
Albino-Martinez V. Adducci
On April 7, 2020, the Ƶ National Prison Project, Ƶ Immigrants’ Rights Project, and Ƶ of Michigan filed Albino-Martinez et al v. Adducci et al in the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of immigrants detained at the Monroe County Jail and the St. Clair County Jail in Michigan.
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Court Case
Apr 2020
Prisoners' Rights
Albino-Martinez V. Adducci
On April 7, 2020, the Ƶ National Prison Project, Ƶ Immigrants’ Rights Project, and Ƶ of Michigan filed Albino-Martinez et al v. Adducci et al in the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of immigrants detained at the Monroe County Jail and the St. Clair County Jail in Michigan.
Court Case
Apr 2019
Prisoners' Rights
Carruthers v. Tony
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