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.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) filed a motion to try to transfer the case from the Philadelphia federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to the Middle District of Pennsylvania, which ALC and co-counsel oppose. Five of the six plaintiffs are from Philadelphia. Philadelphia is also the city that is most impacted in Pennsylvania by the DOC’s solitary confinement practices as those held in solitary are disproportionately from and return to Philadelphia. The judge heard oral argument on this motion in federal court in Philadelphia on November 12, 2024.
press releases
Class Action Suit Seeks to End Solitary Confinement for Hundreds in PA Department of Corrections (3/4/2024)
legal documents
Hammond Complaint (pdf)