Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Files Suit Against Angola Prison

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Addresses Issues Faced by Inmates Facing Health Crises

Group Brings Attention to Health Crises Unfolding in Angola Prison

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee) this week filed its opening brief in Hacker v. Cain in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Jason Hacker is a visually impaired prisoner who was denied medically necessary cataract surgery in a timely fashion on the grounds in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola deemed their surgeries “elective.” Instead, he was assigned to dangerous work in Angola’s fields and machine shops and live in the maximum-security prison without reasonable accommodation.

Hacker’s situation is not unique. “America has the world’s largest prison population that is overwhelmingly black and brown and dramatically aging,” notes Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee. “We are now starting to see the devastating impact of tough on crime sentencing policies that have confined inmates inside jails and prisons for decades. In this environment, we must insist that the 8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment is honored for each and every prisoner.  Moreover, prisons must be made to comply with disability laws, rather than forcing people with disabilities to fend for themselves.”

Most people incarcerated in America’s prisons have at least one disability, including 7% that who are blind or low-vision. Over half meet the criteria for various mental illnesses, and forty percent have chronic medical conditions, such as cancer or heart disease. Whether prisons are willing to treat and accommodate these patients is central to whether American prisons are humane places as well as whether patients will be able to successfully reenter society once their sentences are complete.

Hacker v. Cain is an appeal from a trial litigated by New Orleans civil rights attorneys John Adcock and William Most and filed with pro bono assistance from Debevoise & Plimpton. A link to the brief can be found here.