Treatment of Prisoners

If, as Dostoevsky wrote, the degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons, then America is a primitive society. Our prisons are harsh, secretive, and lacking in rehabilitative efforts that could enable prisoners to rejoin society as law-abiding citizens. Because the courts traditionally have been a forum where questions can be raised about prison practices, the Justice Center has brought several lawsuits that raise important issues including conditions at supermaxium security prisons, overcrowding and the rights of the mentally ill.