Overwhelmingly, American jails and prisons are dangerous and dehumanizing places. The men, women and children in jail or prison are at the mercy of their keepers, who control their physical location, safety, medical and mental health, even their ability to seek or speak with their families and loved ones.
Yet, being incarcerated should not constitute forfeiture of an individual’s right to basic dignity.
We advocate for safe conditions, access to quality physical and mental health care and protection from harassment and sexual assault.
Key Cases
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Mays v. Dart
Advocating for the Rights of the Incarcerated
As the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread across the nation, Cook County Jail officials in Chicago failed to test, mask, and care for medically vulnerable people in their custody. The MacArthur Justice Center is combatting the profoundly cruel and dehumanizing pattern of medical neglect behind bars that has only worsened in the throes of a deadly global pandemic.
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Complaint to DOJ Following Deaths in MDOC
Health and Safety
In January 2020, the MacArthur Justice Center and a coalition of civil rights organizations sent a Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (“CRIPA”) Complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the thousands of Mississippians who are currently incarcerated in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (“MDOC”) and their family members,...
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Postawko v. Missouri Department of Corrections
Health and Safety
The MacArthur Justice Center and the ACLU of Missouri jointly a federal class action lawsuit challenging the Missouri Department of Corrections' (MDOC) systematic denial of potential life-saving medication to inmates with chronic Hepatitis C (HCV).
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Johnson v. Kempter County et al.
Health and Safety
Wayne Johnson was incarcerated at the Kemper Neshoba Regional Correctional Facility for failure to pay fines owed to the Meridian, Mississippi Municipal Court. Despite being sentenced to only two days in jail, Mr. Johnson was detained for more than 50 days. Kemper County, Sheriff James Moore, and five correctional officers have been sued by the... -
Tay Tay v. Illinois Department of Corrections
Health and Safety
Tay Tay is a 40-year-old Black transgender woman who had been imprisoned in the IDOC since she was a teenager. IDOC refused to house her in the Women’s Division. While housed in men’s prisons, Tay Tay survived four brutal rapes and lived with near-constant threats and harassment from both other prisoners and staff. In the...
Key Facts
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Basic Dignity
The Eighth and Fourteen Amendments of the Constitution guarantee that prisoners will be treated humanely and with respect for basic dignity. -
No Independent Authority
The United States is the only democracy in the world that has no independent authority to monitor prison conditions and enforce minimal standards of health and safety. -
More Than Half
More than half of all Americans in prison or jail have a mental illness. -
Transgender Safety
The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) recognizes “Being transgender is a known risk factor for being sexually victimized in confinement settings.” -
Transgender Inmates Targeted
Transgender prisoners are victimized at rates nearly 10x those for prisoners in general. -
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is rampant in correctional facilities. In the state of Missouri, at least 10-10% of the population within the Department of Corrections is infected. However, only 0.11% are being treated. -
COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic, jails and prisons remain one of the hot spots for infection, with the Cook County jail having one of the highest rates of infection in the world.