Cases
All of our briefs are linked on their respective case pages. If they are helpful to you as an attorney or pro se litigator, please feel welcome to use them.
Survivors of Sexual Abuse at FCI Dublin
FCI Dublin is facing an avalanche of lawsuits stemming from the systemic staff sexual abuse and misconduct that has long gone unchecked at this facility.
Savage v. Harris County, Texas, et. al.
Harris County Jail, in Houston Texas, is one of the most violent and deadly jails in the country. Ms. Savage suffered unspeakable violence during the three months she was incarcerated, including a guard assault that resulted in the loss of her pregnancy.
Brown v. Stapleton, et al
While incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison, Demmerick Brown went to the prison barbershop to get a shave and a haircut. Because of the pandemic, he was wearing a face mask, and the barber told him to remove it for the shave. Mr, Brown did. On this basis, a guard filed a disciplinary charge against Brown, Brown was convicted of a rule violation, and he was fined fifteen dollars.
Jane Doe v. Georgia Department of Correction et al
A transgender woman confined in men's prisons for decades, Ms. Doe has endured the GDC's unwarranted denial of gender-affirming surgery despite receiving recommendations for surgery from multiple GDC psychiatrists.
Durham v. G. Kelley, et al
After a diagnosis with lumbar stenosis Mr. Durham has been limited in his ability to ambulate and was prescribed a cane to allow him to walk without extreme pain. Despite this diagnosis and prescription, officials in the Trenton facility ordered Mr. Durham to abandon his cane in his cell when he was transferred to a quarantine unit. They then continued to deny him access to his cane for approximately ten days. They did this despite numerous different requests from Mr. Durham for his cane to nurses, doctors, and correctional officers, and despite his reports of excruciating pain when he was forced to walk without his cane.
Voices of the Experienced (VOTE) et al. v. James LeBlanc et al.
This lawsuit challenges the harsh and unconstitutional conditions of forced agricultural labor at Angola. It is brought Voice of the Experienced (VOTE) and four incarcerated men currently at Angola, who represent all those compelled to work on the so-called “Farm Line.” Angola, once a plantation site, now spans 18,000 acres and forces incarcerated people, primarily Black men, into agricultural labor under oppressive conditions. These individuals toil in extreme heat and humidity, often lacking basic safety gear. This labor serves no legitimate purpose, with men forced to perform grueling tasks like digging and refilling holes or manually picking blades of grass.
California Coalition for Women Prisoners, et. al. v. United States of America Federal Bureau of Prisons, et. al.
This case is a putative class action on behalf of all people incarcerated at FCI Dublin, where inadequate systems for preventing, detecting, investigating, and responding to staff sexual abuse put everyone at the facility at risk. The plaintiffs in this case have endured horrific abuse and exploitation at the hands of prison employees, including but not limited to: rape and sexual assault; manipulation and sexual coercion; rampant degrading sexual comments; voyeurism and taking and sharing explicit photos; drugging, groping, and other forms of abuse during medical exams; and targeted abuse towards immigrant women leveraging the threat of deportation.
Snowden v. Henning
Seventh Circuit case on behalf of a man who had a DEA agent tackle and punch him in the face during a routine arrest, fracturing his eye socket
Hageman v. Billups
Mr. Hageman was quietly reading his bible in his cell when five correctional officers forcibly removed him from his bunk and took him to segregation, nominally not because he had done anything wrong but for his own protection. Although he was not resisting, they handcuffed him and pulled on the chain, breaking his wrist and cutting his hands.
Parker v. LeBlanc
Our client served 337 days in prison past his mandatory release date. We're proud to have argued the case in the Fifth Circuit, which ruled that this constitutional violation was clearly stablished, overcoming qualified immunity
In re: Tehum Care Services, Inc.
Corizon is one of the nation’s largest providers of correctional health care services. Facing mounting liability, in part due to lawsuits brought by incarcerated people who received substandard care, the company is attempting to exploit a quirk in Texas Corporate law to declare bankruptcy and avoid paying incarcerated plaintiffs the money they are owed.
Washington v. Massachusetts Department of Correction, et al.
RBB represents Derrick Washington in a lawsuit in federal court seeking accountability for brutal assaults that Mr. Washington experienced January through March 2020 at the hands of Souza Baranowski Correctional Complex guards.
Getzen v. Long
Rights Behind Bars and the Legal Defense Fund represented David Getzen in a qualified immunity case after Mr. Getzen was subjected to an unlawful use of force.
Ahn v. The GEO Group, et al.
“Mr. Ahn’s case underscores a fact we know all too well: immigration detention is dangerous, and deadly,” said Oren Nimni, Litigation Director at Rights Behind Bars. “The physical and mental harms caused by detention cannot be overstated and fundamentally undermine any justification for continuing the practice.”
Edwards v. Hooks et al.
Tracey Edwards was shackled whilst pregnant, in labor, and post-partum during her incarceration by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Garrett v. Commonwealth of Virginia
Mr. Garrett’s case is an example of the pervasive conduct of using patrol dogs to attack prisoners when there is no legitimate justification for doing so in the Virginia Department of Corrections
Richardson v. Clarke et al.
Richardson v. Clarke is an appeal brought by Rights Behind Bars in the Fourth Circuit on behalf of a man in the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) system who argues VDOC violated his right to freely exercise his religion and failed to provide him accommodations as a person with a disability.
Jones et al v. City of St. Louis et al.
Our second case challenging conditions at St. Louis City Justice Center, this case seeks damages for our clients who were maced, and also seeks to stop the facility’s punitive practice of shutting off water.
Moderwell v. Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Rights Behind Bars has won an appeal in the Sixth Circuit on behalf of Larry Johnson, a pretrial detainee at Cuyahoga County Correctional Center in Cleveland who committed suicide under the watch of corrections officers.
Seidner v. De Vries
Rights Behind Bars, together with the NAACP, represent a cyclist who was brutally rammed by a police car without warning or provocation, on the basis that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated.