Justice Department Will Investigate Conditions at D.C. Jail After Years of Reports of Filth and Neglect
The Justice Department is investigating years of complaints of wretched living conditions, neglect, and brutality inside the D.C. Jail.
8th Amendment
How Local Governments Turn Minor Violations Into Financial Ruin
The Supreme Court will soon have a chance to rein in excessive fines.
Prettifying Executions Does Not Make Them Quicker or More Reliable
Lethal injection aims to disguise the brutal reality of capital punishment by dressing it in medical garb.
ICE Deletes Reports Flagging Medical Neglect in Detention Center Deaths
The reports found medical care that "deviated beyond safe limits" in dozens of cases where ICE detainees died in custody.
You Can Now Sue Federal Agents in California. Good Luck Getting Past Qualified Immunity.
Californians can now sue federal officers for civil rights violations, but cops can still claim qualified immunity as a bona fide defense for official misconduct.
Whistleblower Photos Show ICE Detainees in Miramar, Florida, Amid Extreme Overcrowding, Overflowing Toilets
Photos taken by an ICE whistleblower show detainees at the agency's overcrowded Miramar field office sleeping in the building's sally port.
Why Did a California County Fine Them Over $1 Million for Someone Else's Code Violations?
A recent settlement crippled a local code enforcement scheme—and exposed the perils of turning petty violations into government revenue streams.
'Alligator Alcatraz' Held Detainees in Small Metal Cages, Inspector General Report Finds
An inspection of the now-closed detention camp found overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and an "unprecedented" use of small metal cells to confine detainees.
A $95,000 Fine for Transporting a 6-Pack of Beer Defies the Eighth Amendment, a Supreme Court Brief Argues
The history of the Excessive Fines Clause shows why Alaska pilot Ken Jouppi should not lose his airplane simply because he helped a passenger defy a local alcohol ban.
Justice Department Finds 'Unbroken Pattern' of Sexual Abuse in Two California Women's Prisons
A Justice Department report documents California's failure to protect incarcerated women from sexual assault going back decades.
Supreme Court Will Consider Excessive Fines Clause Asset Forfeiture Case
It will review Alaska's confiscation of a $95,000 plane arising from the pilot's illegal transportation of up to 72 cans of beer.
Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Case of Alaska Pilot Whose $95,000 Plane Was Seized Over a 6-Pack of Beer
Ken Jouppi's Eighth Amendment challenge asks the Court to decide whether a fine must be proportional to the gravity of the crime.
A Man Died of COVID at This California Detention Center. A Judge Just Ordered Sweeping Improvements There.
A federal judge ordered sweeping improvements to conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California. Families say their loved ones died of neglect inside.
Louisiana Cops Threatened To Arrest a Man for Handing Out Religious Leaflets. They Got Qualified Immunity.
Richard Hershey is asking the Supreme Court to overrule a 5th Circuit decision that blocked the lawsuit provoked by that obvious First Amendment violation.
DHS Can't Decide If There's a Hunger Strike Going on at a New Jersey Detention Center
Trump administration officials say there's no hunger strike at the Delaney Hall detention center in New Jersey, but they'll force-feed detainees if it gets bad enough.
An ICE Detainee Died from a Tooth Infection, Autopsy Report Says
Arizona Democrats are calling for a full investigation and transparency after a medical examiner concluded Emmanuel Damas died from a severe tooth infection.
Sen. Mike Lee Says Federal Prison Hung Up on Him When He Tried To Check on Inmate
Families have complained for years that the Bureau of Prisons fails to notify them when their incarcerated loved ones are seriously ill or even dying.
Oklahoma Ends Indefinite Death Row Solitary Confinement
“These men have not been able to touch grass and feel the warmth of the sun for the first time in ten years.”
Judge Orders Takeover of Arizona Prison Health Care Following Years of Barbaric Medical Neglect
A federal judge ruled in 2022 that "no legitimate humane system would operate" like Arizona's prison health care system. Three years later, that same judge found the problems still hadn't been fixed.
A City Fined Her Over $100,000 for Parking on Her Own Grass. The Florida Supreme Court Won't Hear Her Case.
Sandy Martinez's little-known story is a microcosm of the broader debate over what, exactly, transgresses the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on excessive fines.
The NRA and NORML Unite To Oppose the Federal Gun Ban for Marijuana Users
Drug policy reformers and Second Amendment advocates team up in a case before the Supreme Court.
Lawsuit Alleges New York Holds Juveniles in Solitary Cells Without Toilets
"Youth must ask to be released from their cells to use the bathroom or be forced to use garbage pails, water bottles, food containers, or buckets to relieve themselves," the lawsuit says.
Inspector General Report Finds Serious Failures Led to an Inmate Wasting Away From Treatable Cancer
Frederick Bardell died from treatable colon cancer after waiting six months for a colonoscopy.
Heat Index Inside a South Florida Prison Hit 119 Degrees, Report Says
A lawsuit challenging extreme heat in a Florida prison collected temperature readings during the summer. It found brutal heat persisted day and night.
Defending the Summary Execution of Suspected Drug Smugglers, Trump Declares an 'Armed Conflict'
The president thinks he can transform murder into self-defense by executive fiat.
An Alaska Man's $95,000 Plane Was Seized Over a 6-Pack of Beer. Now He's Taking His Case to the Supreme Court.
Alaska has been trying to seize Ken Jouppi's Cessna for 13 years over a misdemeanor crime.
Trump Directs DOJ To Penalize States and Cities That Use Cashless Bail
As part of his response to the alleged crime emergencies taking place nationwide, Trump signed an executive order restricting federal funding from jurisdictions with cashless bail policies.
An Appeals Court Says the $464 Million Fine in Trump's Civil Fraud Case Violated the Eighth Amendment
The decision overturns a staggering "disgorgement" order that was based on dubious math.
Woman Who Died of Heart Disease in ICE Custody Reportedly Told Son She Wasn't Allowed to See Doctor for Chest Pains
Questions about the death of Marie Blaise at a South Florida ICE detention center have lingered since she collapsed in April.
Report Alleges Degrading Treatment and Medical Neglect at South Florida ICE Detention Centers
One former ICE detainee says he and a group of men were forced to kneel with their hands tied behind their backs and eat "like dogs."
Lawyers and Families Report Squalid Conditions and Lack of Legal Access at Alligator Alcatraz
Numerous accounts of lack of showers, overflowing toilets, and inability to meet with lawyers are emerging from the detention center in the middle of the Everglades.
Why a Trump-Appointed Judge Is Torching His Own Court's Approach to Qualified Immunity
Judge James C. Ho recently described a troubling phenomenon on the 5th Circuit and the government abuse it enables.
Arizona Just Created, Then Defunded, an Independent Watchdog for Its Troubled Prison System
Criminal justice reform advocates are still hopeful the office can secure outside funding and bring much-needed transparency to Arizona's prisons.
Federal Prison Guards Allegedly Beat an Inmate to a Pulp. The Supreme Court Says He Can't Sue.
The ruling tells an interesting story about how the very body that created a cause of action for victims of federal abuse has since worked to undermine that right.
The Court-Ordered Takeover of Rikers Shows the Crisis in American Prisons and Jails
A federal judge finally acknowledged that New York City won't fix the constitutional crisis at Rikers on its own, but the problem goes far beyond New York City.
Trump's Death Penalty Executive Order Aims To Expand Execution
The order directs the attorney general to ensure that states have the drug cocktails to carry out lethal injections.
California County Fines Man $120,000 for Refusing to Evict a Family From His Property
Plus, a look at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Tina Smith's plan to resurrect public housing in America.
Texas Prisoners Are Being 'Cooked Alive' by High Temperatures, Investigation Says
Last year, one prison's temperatures stayed above 100 degrees for 11 days.
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Mississippi's Jim Crow–Era Felon Voting Ban
"In short, 'cruel and unusual' is not the same as 'harmful and unfair,'" the court wrote.
Supreme Court Rules That Punishing the Homeless for Sleeping Outside Isn't 'Cruel and Unusual'
Homeless advocates say the court's decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson gives local governments a blank check to "to arrest or fine those with no choice but to sleep outdoors."
Florida Man's Tall Grass Saga Comes to an End
One man’s overgrown yard became a six-year struggle against overzealous code enforcement.
Does the Constitution Protect the Right To Get High?
Columbia law professor David Pozen recalls the controversy provoked by early anti-drug laws and the hope inspired by subsequent legal assaults on prohibition.
Combat Homelessness by Ending Exclusionary Zoning
The Eighth Amendment provides little, if any, protection for the homeless. But courts can help them by striking down exclusionary zoning, which is the major cause of housing shortages that lead to homelessness.
Oklahoma Prisoners Say They Were Locked In Filthy, Tiny Shower Stalls for Days
At least one inmate claims that the shower stalls, which were just 3 feet by 3 feet, were covered in human feces.
Federal Appeals Court Says Texas Inmate's Decade-Long Lawsuit Over Sleep Deprivation Can Keep Going
Michael Garrett and other Texas inmates get less than four hours of sleep a night. He argues it's cruel and unusual punishment.
Justice Department Finds Unconstitutional Conditions in 3 More Mississippi Prisons
Mississippi's prisons are falling apart, run by gangs, and riddled with sexual assaults, a Justice Department report says.
Zoning Board Orders Longtime Tenants' Homes Dismantled
Plus: the Supreme Court weighs housing fees and homelessness, YIMBYs bet on smaller, more focused reforms, and a new paper finds legalizing more housing does in fact bring costs down.
Civil Rights Groups Urge Federal Appeals Court To Strike Down Mississippi's Jim Crow–Era Felon Voting Ban
A broad coalition of civil rights groups and think tanks, including Reason Foundation, say that Mississippi's "mandatory, permanent, and effectively irrevocable" voting ban for certain offenders violates the Constitution.
