The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) protects and advances the constitutional and civil rights of people incarcerated in Pennsylvania through litigation, advocacy, and legal advice.
We do not assist with criminal matters, habeas cases, sentencing, or parole issues.
To request assistance for yourself or someone whose civil or constitutional rights may have been violated in a prison, jail or detention center in Pennsylvania, please press the button below to request assistance from our legal team.
The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project filed a lawsuit on behalf of Miranda Barbour due to a horrifying pattern of relentless sexual assault, harassment, and stalking against her by a parole agent Kenneth Jones, while Ms. Barbour was incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Muncy (“SCI Muncy”). The lawsuit also details numerous times where security and other staff at SCI Muncy failed to intervene or take action to protect Mr. Barbour from the sexual abuse.
In 2023, the DOC terminated religious accommodation for meals. It replaced it with a policy that required religious celebrants to choose a meal from the DOC’s regular weekly menu for their holiday meal. This menu didn’t include halal meat or other religiously meaningful foods. This legal action restores religious accommodations for meals and expands the options.
PILP brought this lawsuit on behalf of Anthony Happel, who was denied treatment for opioid use disorder when he incarcerated at Venango County Prison.
The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, along with Disability Rights Pennsylvania, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of John Topper who is incarcerated in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Mr. Topper is an individual with multiple disabilities, including Huntington’s Disease and psychiatric disabilities which have left him unable to speak or write.
PILP’s work challenging solitary confinement and other inhumane prison conditions includes representing individuals in appeals aimed at establishing new precedents that will benefit not only our clients but also other incarcerated people throughout Pennsylvania and beyond.
The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project has settled a lawsuit on behalf of Damion Davis, who was held for several months as an immigrant detainee at the Pike County Correctional Facility (PCCF) in Lords Valley, Pennsylvania. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracts with Pike County to detain immigrants in its jail.
PILP and its legal partners filed a class action lawsuit alongside six incarcerated people challenging solitary confinement in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Each plaintiff has documented mental illness diagnoses that have significantly worsened throughout repeated and prolonged periods of solitary confinement. The conditions are so harrowing that many in solitary confinement attempt suicide multiple times. The plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief and damages.
In April 2020, ten people incarcerated in facilities in the Philadelphia Department of Prisons filed a federal civil rights class action lawsuit against the city and the department over the conditions of the city’s jails.
PILP MOUD Storytelling Project
In 2020, the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) began working more deeply to address the need for access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) in Pennsylvania’s prisons and jails. Since then, PILP has released a groundbreaking report, that has been cited in news coverage on this important issue across the country. We’ve also held multiple events focused on MOUD and created a listserv for advocates and activists to share resources, and continue to litigate cases seeking access to MOUD for our clients. Let Us Live is a new project that centers on storytelling and uplifting the voices of people directly impacted by the overdose epidemic and incarceration, with the goal of reducing stigma and discrimination against incarcerated people with opioid use disorder (OUD) and increasing access to MOUD for people who are incarcerated and detained in Pennsylvania. The final storytelling project along with an update to our MOUD report will be released at our upcoming Annual Event!
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Photography by Harvey Finkle and illustrations by Gerardo Garduño