Wellpath is the company that provides medical care to people incarcerated in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) and a few county jails in Pennsylvania.  Jails and prisons have a legal obligation to provide adequate medical care to people in their custody. This is based on the U.S. Constitution and state law.  Jails and prison are allowed to contract with a private company to provide this medical care, but the private company must still meet legal standards.

The agreement reached in Howard v. Williams, a class action lawsuit on behalf of people with psychiatric disabilities incarcerated in Allegheny County Jail (ACJ), has been finalized.

Plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against the Philadelphia Department of Prisons (PDP) filed a motion for contempt for the jails’ failures to comply with a Court-monitored Settlement Agreement – failures that have led to “profound” trauma and suffering for those incarcerated in the Philadelphia jails. Calling for immediate resolution for longstanding issues, the motion also demands that daily fines be imposed, which ultimately would be distributed directly to individuals incarcerated in the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. 

An agreement has been reached in Howard v. Williams, a class action lawsuit on behalf of people with psychiatric disabilities incarcerated in Allegheny County Jail (ACJ).

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) sent an advocacy letter on behalf of its client, Ethan Shaw, who is currently incarcerated at SCI Houtzdale. 

PITTSBURGH - People incarcerated at six prisons across Pennsylvania have filed a class action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of solitary confinement in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. The suit is the first of its kind that seeks to end prolonged and indefinite solitary confinement and prohibit all solitary confinement for anyone with a mental health diagnosis. The plaintiffs are represented by the Abolitionist Law Center (ALC), the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP), and Dechert LLP. The suit was filed in federal court.  

Lawyers from the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) have sent an advocacy letter on behalf of our client, Eddie Williams, who has been incarcerated in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (“DOC”) since 2016.

On November 14, 2023, the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) filed a lawsuit against Warden Craig Lowe and other staff at the Pike County Correctional Facility (PCCF) on behalf of Damion Davis, who was subjected to excessive force, racist abuse, and retaliation in December 2021, when he was being held at the jail as an immigration detainee. PCCF has a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain immigrants.