The United States Constitution grants specific rights to pretrial detainees and prisoners. We help our clients enforce these rights in federal court. Here are some examples of the kinds of cases we most commonly handle:

Failure to Protect – We see this story over and over. Our client arrives in a new facility or new cell. The new cellmate threatens our client with physical or sexual violence. With nowhere else to turn, our client goes to a guard or other staff member and asks for help. Prison staff does nothing and the cellmate makes good on the threat. Because pretrial detainees and prisoners often cannot protect themselves from these situations, the Constitution requires correctional staff to do so. If a staff member knows about a serious risk, they must take reasonable steps to avoid it. If they fail to do so, and someone gets hurt, that staff member is legally responsible to compensate the victim for those injuries.

Excessive Force – Correctional staff is allowed to use force for legitimate reasons and, in close cases, staff usually gets the benefit of the doubt. But too often correctional staff intentionally hurts inmates for other illegitimate reasons. Sometimes they attack just because they can and they think they’ll get away with it. We take on these excessive force cases. The isolation of detention is punishment enough. No one should have to endure needless violence.

Sexual Abuse – Correctional staff has almost total power over pretrial detainees and prisoners. And some choose to abuse that power to extract sexual favors. If a guard has sexually abused you or someone you care about, let us know. We can help.

Suicide – The risk that inmates with mental health issues will attempt suicide while in custody is well known to correctional officials. Because they know about that risk, they must take reasonable steps to protect suicidal inmates from themselves. Unfortunately, they sometimes fail to do so, with tragic results. At the Civil Rights Group, we represent survivors and families of the deceased in these awful cases.

Medical Care – Pretrial detainees and prisoners don’t get to pick their own doctors and they can’t release themselves to go to Walgreens for their prescriptions. They are 100% dependent on the medical care provided in their institutions. Too often, that care is anything but.

These are just some of the kinds of prisoners’ rights cases we work on. If you have a situation you are concerned about, get in touch!