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.

One example is our client Roy Lee Williams’s appeal. Mr. Williams, who had a long history of mental illness, was held in solitary confinement for 26 years solely because of his death sentence, pursuant to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ policy (which has since been changed) of keeping all death-sentenced individuals in solitary confinement. Mr. Williams filed a lawsuit, without a lawyer, seeking financial compensation for the harm prolonged solitary confinement caused him. After the trial court dismissed his claims, PILP stepped in to represent him on appeal.

In September 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a precedential opinion vacating the trial court’s judgment and allowing Mr. Williams’s claims under the Eighth Amendment and Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) to proceed to trial. See Williams v. Sec’y Pa. Dep’t of Corr., 117 F. 4th 503 (3d Cir. 2024). PILP then successfully warded off the DOC’s efforts to have the case reconsidered by the full Third Circuit.

In addition to being a huge win for Mr. Williams and the dozens of other death-sentenced prisoners with similar pending lawsuits, the Third Circuit’s opinion established or reaffirmed several key precedents, which will help countless future incarcerated plaintiffs.

LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Appellant’s Opening Brief - 1/20/23 (pdf)
Appellant’s Reply Brief - 3/14/23 (pdf)
Third Circuit Opinion - 9/20/24 (pdf)
Appellant’s Response to Petition for Rehearing - 11/12/24 (pdf)
Third Circuit Order Denying Petition for Rehearing - 12/9/24 (pdf)