Litigation

When Timothy Finley was in the midst of a severe mental health spiral, Michigan prison officials responded by imposing on him the one condition they knew was likely to make it worse: months of solitary confinement in a tiny windowless cell. The MacArthur Justice Center is fighting to ensure that incarcerated people like Mr. Finley have their known psychiatric needs taken seriously, not punished with damaging social isolation.

Cindy Lou Hill was left to die in a jail cell while under NaphCare’s “Medical Watch” at the Spokane County Jail. Despite its name, there was nothing medical about “Medical Watch.” Rather, “Medical Watch” consisted of untrained jail guards—not medical professionals—occasionally peeking through a small cell window for seconds to check for signs of life.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Derek Lee challenges the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s felony murder sentencing scheme, which imposes mandatory life without parole (LWOP) on persons convicted of felony murder even if they did not kill or intend to take life. The MacArthur Justice Center is proud to add our voice to the growing chorus of groups and individuals recognizing that such extreme sentences in these circumstances are not only unjust—they are unconstitutional.

After four prisoners filed a joint lawsuit, the district court erroneously dismissed three of the prisoners’ complaints based on the false assertion that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) categorically bars prisoners from joining together in one lawsuit. The MacArthur Justice Center is fighting to correct that atextual interpretation of the PLRA and ensure prisoners, an already marginalized group, can split a single filing fee, pool their legal knowledge, and share resources – critical abilities to ensure access to the courts.

After Christopher Welters suffered permanent injury when Minnesota prison officials refused to loosen his handcuffs for hours, the Minnesota Supreme Court correctly determined that the officials were not entitled to qualified immunity. The MacArthur Justice Center represents Mr. Welters to defend this decision from review in the U.S. Supreme Court and ensure that qualified immunity does not stand in the way of holding prison officials accountable for their abuse.

Before Jackson Maes died by suicide in a jail cell, jail officials saw him repeatedly and violently strike his head against a cell wall and heard him say he was trying to kill himself. They still failed to put him on suicide watch or obtain the mental health treatment he needed. The MacArthur Justice Center is fighting to ensure that qualified immunity does not shield jail and prison officials from being held accountable for their often-dangerous indifference toward prisoners’ health and safety.

Prison officials caused Michael Rivera to have an asthma attack when they deployed pepper spray in the process of removing another prisoner from the unit, despite Mr. Rivera’s repeated pleas to be placed out of harm’s way. The MacArthur Justice Center is fighting to ensure that erroneous interpretations of the qualified immunity doctrine do not shield prison officials from accountability when they act with deliberate indifference toward the health and safety of incarcerated people.

While housed in the men’s unit in the El Paso Jail in Colorado as a pretrial detainee, Darlene Griffith, a transgender woman, was subjected to sexual harassment and assault, misgendering, and denial of access to commissary items like women’s underwear and lipstick. The MacArthur Justice Center joins Ms. Griffith’s fight in an effort to hold jails and prisons accountable for how they treat transgender people in their custody.

In a blatant disregard for detainees' safety and humanity, the St. Louis City Justice Center (CJC) jail correctional officers curate fear and control with often indiscriminate, excessive macing and water deprivation. The MacArthur Justice Center is working to hold jails and prisons alike, and the cities that run them, accountable for their torturous use of chemical agents and other human rights violations against those in their custody.

After a Michigan jail official kicked six-month pregnant Jaquetta Coopwood in the stomach, the district court denied Ms. Coopwood the ability to hold the jail official accountable, ruling that she did not “properly” exhaust the jail’s grievance process. The MacArthur Justice Center is fighting alongside prisoners with mental illness, like Ms. Coopwood, who are unfairly held responsible for a grievance process made impassable by their untreated and debilitating psychological condition.