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.
The legal team consists of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP), Abolitionist Law Center (ALC), and Dechert LLP. The suit was filed in federal court in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and brings claims under the U.S. Constitution and the ADA.
In May 2024, the original, all-encompassing case was split into three separate cases, each with different focal points. An amended complaint was filed in Hammond v. PA DOC updating that case to focus on solitary confinement of people with mental health conditions. Henderson v. Harry was filed to focus on prolonged solitary confinement of three years or more. And Walker v. Harry was filed to focus on due process challenges to those in solitary on the Restricted Release List or the Intensive Management Unit.
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2026
The federal judge overseeing three class action lawsuits challenging the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections' (DOC) solitary confinement practices denied Defendants’ motions to dismiss in their entirety last month, allowing Plaintiffs to move forward on all their claims. This ruling means Plaintiffs will now commence the most extensive discovery into DOC solitary confinement practices in the state’s history.
In dismissing the wide-ranging motions to dismiss filed by the Defendants, the court noted that “since 2017” the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has “repeatedly voiced” a “deep and mature understanding of the potentially devastating psychological and physical effects of extended solitary confinement.”
Initially filed as one lawsuit in March 2024 by six incarcerated individuals, our landmark class actions challenge the constitutionality and extreme harms of solitary confinement within the DOC. That suit—brought by the Abolitionist Law Center (ALC), the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP), and Dechert LLP was eventually refiled as three separate cases that have been transferred to the federal court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and consolidated for pretrial motions and discovery. These cases address three core pillars of the DOC’s regime of solitary confinement:
Hammond v. DOC: Focuses on the placement of people with mental health conditions in solitary confinement—where extreme isolation causes catastrophic harm, exacerbates psychiatric illness, and drastically increases risks of self-harm and suicide. This case involves Eighth Amendment and Americans with Disabilities Act claims.
Henderson v. Harry: Challenges prolonged, indefinite solitary confinement lasting three years or more, consecutive or cumulative, as cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Walker v. Harry: Challenges due process violations under the Fourteenth Amendment in the DOC’s long-term solitary confinement, specifically involving placement on the Restricted Release List (RRL) and in the Intensive Management Unit (IMU).
For years, the DOC has been operating in the shadows. Through the discovery process, Plaintiffs and their counsel will develop extensive evidence exposing the severe and systemic harms caused by the DOC’s solitary confinement practices.
Discovery will be ongoing throughout 2027.
press releases
Class Action Suit Seeks to End Solitary Confinement for Hundreds in PA Department of Corrections (3/4/2024)
legal documents
Hammond Amended Complaint
Henderson Complaint
Walker Complaint
Plaintiffs' Response to Defendants' Motions to Dismiss
Opinion Denying Defendants' Motions to Dismiss