American Civil Liberties Union

Features

Stop Solitary - The Dangerous Overuse of Solitary Confinement in the United States: Over the last two decades corrections systems have increasingly relied on solitary confinement as a prison management tool – even building entire institutions called “supermax prisons” where prisoners are held in conditions of extreme isolation, sometimes for years or decades. But solitary confinement jeopardizes our public safety, is fundamentally inhumane and wastes taxpayer dollars. We must insist on humane and more cost-effective methods of punishment and prison management.

Reports

Cruel and Usual Punishment — How a Savage Gang of Deputies Controls L.A. County Jails (2011 report): This report details a pattern of severe and pervasive abuse of inmates at the hands of deputies and an ongoing climate of violence that has been allowed to exist for years under Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who the report says has covered up and ignored the claims of savagery.

Broken Promises – 2 Years After Katrina (2007 report): A comprehensive report documenting the terrible conditions and dangerous lack of planning at the Orleans Parish Prison, increases in police abuse, racial profiling, housing discrimination and other civil liberties violations, and the ACLU's continuing response.

Abandoned & Abused (2006 report): A comprehensive picture of what the men, women, and children at Orleans Parish Prison endured before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina.

Multimedia & Infographics

Orleans Parish Prison - Photographs of Conditions After the Storms (2006 resource) Photographs of one Orleans Parish Prison building show the damage caused by inmates desperately attempting to escape the dangerous conditions within. These photographs were taken in the Community Correctional Center approximately six months after the storm; the Community Correctional Center is one of the buildings that has not yet been reopened by the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office. These images strongly rebut Sheriff Gusman's claims that deputies remained at their posts throughout the storm and its aftermath, and that prisoners in the facilities were never abandoned, but rather were regularly provided with food and water.

Most Popular

Starving For Better Conditions in California Prisons (2011 blog post) How terrible would things have to be for you to stop eating and possibly starve yourself to death? For prisoners in California, their conditions of confinement — severe and prolonged isolation in small, windowless concrete boxes — have reached that level. Prisoners in California are now on a hunger strike, protesting inhumane conditions in Pelican Bay State Prison.

ACLU Releases Expert's Report On Nightmarish Conditions At Men's Central Jail In Los Angeles (2009 press release) The American Civil Liberties Union today released an expert's report documenting how brutally overcrowded conditions cause or contribute to violence and serious mental illness in Los Angeles County's aging Men's Central Jail, and demanded that county officials swiftly implement changes to prevent unnecessary deaths or serious injuries.

Judge Calls Maricopa County Jail Conditions Unconstitutional (2008 press release) A U.S. district court judge today ruled that the grossly inadequate living conditions at the Maricopa County Jail, overseen by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, are unconstitutional and jeopardize the health and safety of prisoners.

Prison Conditions and Prisoner Abuse After Katrina (2005 resource)  The Orleans Parish Prison fell into chaos in the five days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on August 29. As the water rose in the prison buildings, deputies deserted en masse, leaving behind prisoners in locked cells. The prisoners spent days without power, food or water, some standing in sewage-tainted water up to their chests or necks.

ACLU Joins Lawsuit Over Conditions at Jail Run by Infamous Arizona Sheriff (2003 press release) The American Civil Liberties Union today joined an important litigation effort to defeat Sheriff Joe Arpaio's bid to terminate existing federal protections for pre-trial detainees housed in the Maricopa County Jail -- known internationally for the degrading chain gangs and other harsh policies introduced by its infamous sheriff.

Citing Expert Reports on Inhumane Prison Conditions, ACLU Asks Court to Speed Review of MS Prison Case (2002 press release) The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal court to speed review of a lawsuit over prison conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, citing reports by court-appointed experts detailing inhumane conditions that have directly contributed to psychiatric problems in the prison population.

Appeals Court Affirms that Mississippi Death Row Conditions are Unconstitutional (2004 press release) In the most comprehensive decision regarding death row conditions in the last ten years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has affirmed a lower court's opinion that Mississippi's death row is unconstitutional and requires improvements, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Holland & Knight announced today.

Judge Finds Poor Conditions at Virgin Islands Jail Violate Court Orders (2003 press release) Citing the defendants' willful failure to comply with court orders and provisions of a 1994 settlement agreement to eliminate unconstitutional jail conditions, a federal judge yesterday held territory and corrections officials in St. Thomas in civil contempt for the third time in six years, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.