Rights behind bars
All press coverage
Every article, broadcast, and mention of RBB’s work in the press.
Groups demand changes at Dublin federal women’s prison to address ongoing abuse
Michael McCutcheon, Davis Vanguard
DUBLIN, CA – A sweeping demand letter sent last week to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) detailed significant recent and ongoing abuses at the Federal Correctional Institute at Dublin (FCI Dublin), according to the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP), Centro Legal de la Raza, Rights Behind Bars (RBB) and Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP (RBGG) in “Women Prisoner News.”
Dublin prison sex assault survivors should be released: advocacy groups
Lisa Fernandez, KTVU
A coalition of advocacy groups and lawyers on Thursday demanded that sexual assault survivors at the all-women's Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin be released.
Newly sworn in Barnstable Sheriff Donna Buckley ends agreement with ICE
Luis Fieldman, MassLive
The controversial policy triggered a lawsuit from Lawyers for Civil Rights and Rights Behind Bars in 2022 on behalf of a statewide coalition that challenged the agreement between the sheriff’s office and immigration authorities.
The claims of abuses against prisoners in a St. Louis jail are horrific. They’re also not unique.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, The Messenger
Incarcerated people in jails throughout the country are left to ask the courts to protect their rights.
Immigrant detainees sue Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson for alleged cruel treatment
Frank Mulligan and Staff Reports, South Coast Today
Sixteen former immigrant detainees in the Bristol County House of Correction Immigrant Detention Center have filed suit against Sheriff Thomas Hodgson and the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office on 21 counts, alleging cruel treatment and conditions of confinement.
Public Service Venture Fund at 10
Rachel Reed, Harvard Law Today
Harvard Law School’s fellowship and seed grant program celebrates a decade of exponential impact for public interest careers, nonprofits, and the world
SJC lawsuit aims to end deal between Barnstable sheriff and ICE
Nick Stoico, Boston Globe
The lawsuit, filed Thursday by two organizations, Lawyers for Civil Rights and Rights Behind Bars, on behalf of 25 petitioners, asks the Supreme Judicial Court to weigh in on whether the sheriff’s office has the authority to enter such an agreement with ICE.
Plymouth sheriff sued by immigration detainee who says he was beaten, denied a visa
Wheeler Cowperthwaite, The Patriot Ledger
After reporting sexual harassment, Michael Acosta-Granados was brutally beat by a fellow immigration detainee.
Qualified Immunity and Rights Behind Bars with Samuel Weiss
The Garrulous Gavel Podcast, National Law Review
Rights Behind Bars Executive Director, Samuel Weiss, on the Garrulous Gavel podcast
10th Circuit denies immunity to Colorado prison officials who are accused of blocking religious ceremonies
Michael Karlik, Colorado Politics
Prison officials in Colorado violated a man’s clearly-established constitutional rights if, as alleged, they suspended Native American religious services and the use of tobacco in those ceremonies, the federal appeals court based in Denver ruled on Wednesday.
He spent six days in a cell covered in feces. The Supreme Court says he can sue his jailers.
Beth Schwartzapfel and Tony Plohetski, The Marshall Project
It’s the first time in years the highest court allowed such a suit to proceed. The ruling suggests it is reconsidering protections for officers who cause harm.
Cracks in a legal shield for officers’ misconduct
Adam Liptak, New York Times
The Supreme Court has hinted that it is ready to trim the doctrine of qualified immunity, which makes it difficult to sue government officials for violence and cruelty.
The Supreme Court is giving lower courts a subtle hint to rein in police misconduct
Joanna Schwartz, The Atlantic
And those paying attention haven’t missed it.
Court rules for inmate in qualified immunity case
Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog
[T]he justices struck down a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that had blocked a Texas inmate’s lawsuit against prison officials. The inmate, Trent Taylor, was forced to spend six days naked in cells that contained feces from previous occupants and overflowing sewage.
Federal judges were once all reliably bad on prisoners’ rights issues. COVID-19 changed that.
Samuel Weiss, The Appeal
Rights Behind Bars Executive Director, Samuel Weiss, discusses how Trump-appointed judges have decisively hampered legal efforts to force prisons and jails to address the coronavirus.