Rights Behind Bars
Cases
Rights Behind Bars has won more than a hundred cases in the Federal Circuit Courts. Our briefs are linked on their case pages. If they are helpful to you as an attorney or pro se litigator, please feel welcome to use them.
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RBB wins rare Supreme Court qualified immunity reversal
In an extraordinary win for prisoner’s rights and all who oppose qualified immunity, the Supreme Court reversed the Fifth Circuit in Taylor v. Riojas, emphasizing that “no reasonable correctional officer could have concluded that, under the extreme circumstances of this case, it was constitutionally permissible to house Taylor in such deplorably unsanitary conditions for such an extended period of time.”
Shorter v. United States, et al.
Rights Behind Bars represents Chrissy Shorter, a transgender woman who was sexually assaulted while incarcerated at a federal prison in New Jersey. Shorter brought an Eighth Amendment claim pro se against the prison for failing to take preventative actions to protect her from sexual assault even after her request for transfer to a safer institution had been approved.
Melnik v. Dzurenda
Rights Behind Bars, together with O’Melveny & Myers, represent John Melnik, an individual incarcerated at Nevada Desert State Prison who was denied the opportunity to present documentary evidence in his defense for a disciplinary charge. Because he was denied the opportunity to present this evidence, Melnik is currently facing three years in punitive solitary confinement.
Mammana v. Barben
Rights Behind Bars, along with Covington & Burling, represent a plaintiff on appeal who was forced to endure torture at the hands of prison staff in retaliation for requesting medical care.
Hamilton v. Westchester County
Rights Behind Bars is lead counsel representing a formerly pro se detainee who after a serious knee injury did not receive recreation, an accessible shower, a safe housing unit, or a railing to hold onto while being strip-searched.
Dickinson v. Cochran
Along with the law firm Wilkinson Walsh, Rights Behind Bars represents Joshua Dickinson who was jailed for three days in the midst of a mental health crisis.
Callahan v. Federal Bureau of Prisons
Rights Behind Bars represents Scott Callahan, a man in a federal prison in Ohio whose artwork was censored in violation of his First Amendment rights.
Vette v. Sanders
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund along with Rights Behind Bars represents Eric Vette, who alleges he was subject to excessive force by the police when even after being restrained by the police he was punched, hit with a dog chain, and bitten by a police dog.
Porretti v. Dzurenda
Rights Behind Bars, along with Makris Legal Services, LLC, represents Wayne Porretti, an incarcerated man who was taken off the antipsychotic medications he needs to function for non-medical reasons.
Crane v. Utah D.O.C.
Rights Behind Bars represents the grandmother of Brock Tucker on her claims under the Eighth Amendment, Utah Constitution, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Brock entered the Utah Department of Corrections when he was seventeen years old.
McCoy v. Alamu
Rights Behind Bars, along with the MacArthur Justice Center, represents Prince McCoy, an incarcerated man in Texas who was sprayed in the face with mace by a prison guard for no reason other than the guard's frustration with a different person.
Williams v. Borrego
Rights Behind Bars, along with the law firm Jones Day, represents Charles Williams, an incarcerated man in Colorado. A devout adherent to Native American religious practices, his prison collectively punished the Native Americans in their prison by prohibiting their use of tobacco for religious pipe ceremonies when a non-Native incarcerated person was caught with unrelated tobacco.
Hoffman v. Preston
Partnering with the law firm Covington and Burling, Rights Behind Bars represents Marcellas Hoffman, who was incarcerated in a California prison when a correctional officer offered to pay other incarcerated people to assault him and spread rumors he hoped would lead to an attack on Hoffman.
Munoz v. CDCR
Rights Behind Bars represents Rick Munoz in his appeal of the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) on his claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Taylor v. Riojas
Rights Behind Bars filed a petition for rehearing en banc to the Fifth Circuit on behalf of Trent Taylor. The court granted Texas state prison officials qualified immunity notwithstanding Mr. Taylor's claim that forcing him to live naked in prison cells covered in human sewage for nearly a week was an unconstitutional condition of confinement. The Supreme Court summarily reversed the Fifth Circuit decision granting qualified immunity to prison officials.
United States v. Westine
Rights Behind Bars represented John Westine Jr. in an appeal of a district court's denial of his motion for compassionate release.