Mass Incarceration
Dockery v. Hall
The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û, 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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158 Mass Incarceration Cases
California
May 2023
Mass Incarceration
Smart Justice
Rosas v. Luna
Rosas v. Luna is a class action lawsuit brought by the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û of Southern California (ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û SoCal), the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û’s National Prison Project (NPP), and the law firm of Paul Hastings LLP in 2012 against the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) over its routine, excessive, and unnecessary use of force against incarcerated people in the Los Angeles Jail system.
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California
May 2023
Mass Incarceration
Smart Justice
Rosas v. Luna
Rosas v. Luna is a class action lawsuit brought by the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û of Southern California (ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û SoCal), the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û’s National Prison Project (NPP), and the law firm of Paul Hastings LLP in 2012 against the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) over its routine, excessive, and unnecessary use of force against incarcerated people in the Los Angeles Jail system.
Maryland
Jul 2022
Mass Incarceration
Prisoners' Rights
Duvall v. Hogan
The settlement agreement was approved by the court on June 28, 2016.
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Maryland
Jul 2022
Mass Incarceration
Prisoners' Rights
Duvall v. Hogan
The settlement agreement was approved by the court on June 28, 2016.
Michigan
Feb 2020
Mass Incarceration
Criminal Law Reform
Hightower v. City of Grand Rapids
The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û of Michigan and the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û's Criminal Law Reform Project filed a federal lawsuit in May of 2013, on behalf of Plaintiffs Gilbert Weber and Tyrone Hightower, challenging the Grand Rapids Police Department's longstanding practice of arresting innocent people for criminal trespass on commercial property without warning and without the business owner's knowledge. Even where those arrested are patronizing the business in question, police justify these illegal arrests by pointing to form letters signed by business owners months or years prior to the arrest agreeing to prosecute "trespassers."
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Michigan
Feb 2020
Mass Incarceration
Criminal Law Reform
Hightower v. City of Grand Rapids
The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û of Michigan and the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û's Criminal Law Reform Project filed a federal lawsuit in May of 2013, on behalf of Plaintiffs Gilbert Weber and Tyrone Hightower, challenging the Grand Rapids Police Department's longstanding practice of arresting innocent people for criminal trespass on commercial property without warning and without the business owner's knowledge. Even where those arrested are patronizing the business in question, police justify these illegal arrests by pointing to form letters signed by business owners months or years prior to the arrest agreeing to prosecute "trespassers."
North Carolina
May 2017
Mass Incarceration
+2 Issues
North Carolina v. Robinson
A North Carolina judge found intentional and systemic discrimination by state prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in capital cases and commuted the sentence of death-row prisoner Marcus Robinson to life in prison without the possibility of parole in April 2012. The decision is currently under appeal.
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North Carolina
May 2017
Mass Incarceration
+2 Issues
North Carolina v. Robinson
A North Carolina judge found intentional and systemic discrimination by state prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in capital cases and commuted the sentence of death-row prisoner Marcus Robinson to life in prison without the possibility of parole in April 2012. The decision is currently under appeal.
Massachusetts
Jan 2017
Mass Incarceration
Criminal Law Reform
Bridgeman et. al v. District Attorney for Suffolk County et. al
Update: On January 18, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Court directed district attorneys to dismiss thousands of drug offense cases that were tainted by the misconduct of chemist Annie Dookhan. Prosecutors must produce a list of all drug convictions they plan to dismiss, and also produce a list of cases that they wish to re-prosecute, both within 90 days. They will be permitted to re-prosecute cases only if they certify they can do so on the basis of untainted evidence. The people hurt by Annie Dookhan’s actions deserve justice from the prosecutors who have the power to right thousands of grave wrongs by dismissing these cases.
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Massachusetts
Jan 2017
Mass Incarceration
Criminal Law Reform
Bridgeman et. al v. District Attorney for Suffolk County et. al
Update: On January 18, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Court directed district attorneys to dismiss thousands of drug offense cases that were tainted by the misconduct of chemist Annie Dookhan. Prosecutors must produce a list of all drug convictions they plan to dismiss, and also produce a list of cases that they wish to re-prosecute, both within 90 days. They will be permitted to re-prosecute cases only if they certify they can do so on the basis of untainted evidence. The people hurt by Annie Dookhan’s actions deserve justice from the prosecutors who have the power to right thousands of grave wrongs by dismissing these cases.