Who Are These People and Why Are They Suing You? -- A Look at the ACLU's (American Civil Liberties Union) National Prison Project

• NCJ Number: 118023
• Journal: Corrections Today Volume: 51 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1989) Pages: 16-18,20,22,24,26-27,114
• Author(s): D Gursky
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union is discussed in terms of its history, goals, current priorities, and activities.

Abstract

The project, begun in 1972, focuses on inmates' rights and uses lawsuits as its main tactic to achieve changes in corrections operations. Its current priorities are crowding and the conditions that result from crowding, conditions and treatment of women in State facilities, conditions and practices at closed juvenile facilities, and issues related to AIDS. The Prison Project also acts as a resource center, providing information, technical assistance to lawyers involved with prison litigation, publishing materials, and providing speakers to the media and organizations. Its litigation draws both the respect and the animosity of criminal justice professionals. In responding to critics of the project's focus on inmates' rights, project director Al Bronstein points out that the Constitution does not exclude prisoners and that it is in the public interest to have humane and decent prisons.