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.