Prison Justice League

Prison Justice League The Prison Justice League works to improve conditions in Texas prisons through litigation, advocacy, Estelle, 503 F. Supp. 1265, 1391 (S.D.Tex. 1980)

"[I]t is impossible for a written opinion to convey the pernicious conditions and the pain and degradation which ordinary inmates suffer within TDC prison walls-the gruesome experiences of youthful first offenders forcibly r***d; the cruel and justifiable fears of inmates, wondering when they will be called upon to defend the next violent assault; the sheer misery, the discomfort, the wholesale lo

ss of privacy for prisoners housed with one, two, or three others in a forty-five foot cell or suffocatingly packed together in a crowded dormitory; the physical suffering and wretched psychological stress which must be endured by those sick or injured who cannot obtain adequate medical care; the sense of abject helplessness felt by inmates arbitrarily sent to solitary confinement or administrative segregation without proper opportunity to defend themselves or to argue their causes; the bitter frustration of inmates prevented from petitioning the courts and other governmental authorities for relief from perceived injustices. For those who are incarcerated within the parameters of TDC, these conditions and experiences form the content and essence of daily existence. It is to these conditions that each inmate must wake every morning; it is with the painful knowledge of their existence that each inmate must try to sleep at night. But these iniquitous and distressing circumstances are prohibited by the great constitutional principles that no human being, regardless of how disfavored by society, shall be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment or be deprived of the due process of the law within the United States of America. Regrettably, state officials have not upheld their responsibility to enforce these principles. In the wake of their default, the United States Constitution must be enforced within the confines of TDC by court decree."

- Judge William Justice, Ruiz v.

10/15/2017

More than 6,600 offenders held by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice gave money from their commissary accounts for Hurricane Harvey aid.

09/10/2017

If passed, the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act, which features reforms that would strengthen family ties and support rehabilitation, would be a step toward making our criminal justice system more just, write Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren

"David Vergara, 32, an inmate at the medium security federal prison who also has diabetes and hypertension, told his wif...
09/05/2017

"David Vergara, 32, an inmate at the medium security federal prison who also has diabetes and hypertension, told his wife Rachel he'd seen people faint from a lack of drinking water. He told her he had resorted to drinking discolored and possibly contaminated toilet water to stay hydrated."

Hurricane Harvey dealt a beating to prison and jail facilities in southeast Texas, triggering evacuations, marooning staff and depriving prisoners of toilets and running water as it cut a bruising path across the state.

The lawsuit points to 23 deaths and hundreds of illnesses related to heat in Texas prisons since 1998 and says that elde...
07/24/2017

The lawsuit points to 23 deaths and hundreds of illnesses related to heat in Texas prisons since 1998 and says that elderly, disabled and “medically sensitive” inmates — including those with heart disease, diabetes and obesity, or those taking medications like anti-psychotics that impair the body's natural cooling system — should be protected from extreme heat.

Most Texas prisons remain un-air conditioned, but a federal judge's ruling Wednesday called conditions at one prison cruel and unusual and ordered temporary air conditioning for heat-sensitive inmates.

Our friends at Edwards Law and Texas Civil Rights Project had a HUGE win for prisoners in Texas. TDCJ must provide A/C f...
07/19/2017

Our friends at Edwards Law and Texas Civil Rights Project had a HUGE win for prisoners in Texas. TDCJ must provide A/C for heat-sensitive prisoners at the Pack Unit. We're thrilled with the court order and look forward to more prisons across Texas providing A/C to those that need it.

In a searing 100-page rebuke of the Texas prison system, a federal judge Wednesday ordered state officials to provide air conditioning for all elderly, disabled and other heat-sensitive inmates at the Pack United near Houston.. In a searing 100-page rebuke of the Texas prison system, a federal judge...

Part of ending mass incarceration is to acknowledge the harms incarceration can have on individuals & communities and to...
07/17/2017

Part of ending mass incarceration is to acknowledge the harms incarceration can have on individuals & communities and to openly talk about them. Sexual assault in prison is more common than you think, and is wrong under any circumstance.

"There's a severe need inside, but there's also a severe need everywhere."

07/14/2017

Black inmates in the Travis County Jail were locked up for longer periods of time in 2015 than white inmates charged with same-level offenses, according to

06/29/2017

A new report released today from PJL digs into the failings of the TDCJ Offender Grievance System. We believe that prisoners should have a meaningful system to address the problems they encounter and that it should hold the agency accountable. Unfortunately, TDCJ's grievance system does neither. Read the whole report here: http://prisonjusticeleague.org/?attachment_id=866

06/14/2017

The Jerry Hartfield case is an extraordinary tale of justice delayed and denied.

06/10/2017

"Ear Hustle" gives you a glimpse into the lives of inmates of San Quentin State prison.

06/03/2017

Burlington, Vermont Police Chief Brandon del Pozo dares to imagine a criminal justice system that "strives to put itself out of business."

How would you ? Visit http://reimagine.vera.org

05/27/2017

A lot is known about how to reform prisoners. Far too little is done

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