Litigation

While incarcerated at a prison in Northern California, Mr. Simms received nasal surgery at a nearby hospital. Although he was lethargic and disoriented following the surgery, two prison officers rushed Mr. Simms back to the prison—ignoring his complaints that he was having difficulty breathing, coughing up blood and experiencing severe pain—so that they could get off work on time.

The State of Florida sentenced Sadik Baxter, at the age of 26, to spend the rest of his life in prison without possibility of parole for an accidental death that he did not cause, intend, or play any role in bringing about. The MacArthur Justice Center is fighting alongside Mr. Baxter to bring an end to extreme sentences for felony murder that are wildly out of proportion to the person’s culpability.

Gabriel Bassford, proceeding pro se, sued police officers for arresting him simply for filming the police as they conducted an investigation at a gas station. The district court concluded that the officer arrested Mr. Bassford in retaliation for him exercising his First Amendment right to film the police.

Samuel Smalls, an incarcerated individual in Maryland, was held in solitary confinement for almost a year without access to any out-of-cell exercise or outdoor recreation whatsoever.

Joseph Vidal sued New York prison officials for violating his procedural due process rights after he was unable to introduce key witness testimony during the disciplinary hearing that resulted in his placement in solitary confinement for nearly nine months.

M.M. v. King considers whether jail policies in Michigan that eliminate in-person family visitation violate the Michigan Constitution and its expansive protections for right of intimate family association between children and their parents. In joining, as amicus, the family members of jailed people in Michigan who are challenging these visitation bans, the MacArthur Justice Center...

Mr. Avila sued California prison officials for violating his Eighth Amendment rights after they failed to treat a series of dangerous eye conditions, resulting in extreme pain and blindness in one eye.  The MacArthur Justice Center, along with UCLA’s Prisoners’ Rights Clinic, took on his case to help secure him the medical care he needed.

People v. Langston considers whether mandatory life without parole (LWOP) for felony murder, absent a showing that the defendant acted with malice or intent to kill, constitutes “cruel or unusual” punishment under the Michigan Constitution.

People v. Taylor and People v. Czarnecki consider whether mandatory life without parole (LWOP) for emerging adults who were convicted of offenses committed at the age of nineteen or twenty constitutes “cruel or unusual” punishment under the Michigan Constitution.

Terri McGuire-Mollica, proceeding pro se, sued federal prison officials for their years-long failure to treat a painful uterine fibroid that caused severe bleeding and other complications. Although she did everything Bureau of Prisons (BOP) regulations required of her to pursue her claim, the district court wrongly dismissed her case under the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s...