Jails and prisons
What a jail or prison still owes the people inside
A person who is locked up keeps some rights: to medical care, to safety, and to be released when the sentence or the order says so. We represent people when a facility fails them, and their families when they cannot write for themselves.
These cases are built from the facility’s own paperwork: medication logs, grievance forms, housing records and release calculations. We ask for them, and we read them hour by hour.
There are hard limits on these claims, including grievance steps that must be finished first and deadlines that run while you are still inside. Keep copies of everything, and write to us early.
Where a facility can fail
Medical and mental health care
Delayed treatment, ignored prescriptions, and care that stops when someone is moved.
Safety and use of force
Failures to protect someone from violence, and force used on a person who posed no threat.
Release dates
A person held after a court ordered release, or past the end of a sentence, because offices never compared notes.
Convictions and sentences
Not ours. We send criminal appeals and sentencing questions to lawyers who handle them.
Questions from inside and out
Can a family member write for someone who is incarcerated?
Yes. We will talk with the family about what happened, and we will meet or speak with the person inside before we agree to anything.
Do I have to use the grievance process first?
Federal law often requires it before a lawsuit, and the deadlines inside are short. File the grievance, keep a copy, and keep every answer.
Will someone come to see me?
We meet people at the facility where the rules allow it, and by phone or video where they do not.
Tell us what the facility did.
Names, dates and the housing unit if you have them. A grievance form and its answer are the best place to start.