{"id":1643,"date":"2020-09-29T09:06:08","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T13:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/?page_id=1643"},"modified":"2025-05-12T11:15:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:15:22","slug":"68-current-and-former-prosecutors-and-justice-department-officials-urge-fifth-circuit-to-allow-lawsuit-challenging-texas-mans-26-year-stay-in-solitary-confinement-to-proceed","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/our-press-releases\/68-current-and-former-prosecutors-and-justice-department-officials-urge-fifth-circuit-to-allow-lawsuit-challenging-texas-mans-26-year-stay-in-solitary-confinement-to-proceed\/","title":{"rendered":"68 Current and Former Prosecutors and Justice Department Officials Urge Fifth Circuit to Allow Lawsuit Challenging Texas Man\u2019s 26-Year Stay in Solitary Confinement to Proceed"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 29, 2020 \u2014 Sixty-eight current and former prosecutors and former U.S. Department of Justice officials signed an amicus curiae (\u201cfriend of the court\u201d) brief filed Monday in Hope v. Harris<\/em>, urging the U.S Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to allow a case to proceed that was brought by a prisoner challenging his continued solitary confinement, where he was spent the past 26 years.\u00a0 The brief was authored by Georgetown Law\u2019s\u00a0Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection<\/a> (ICAP).<\/p>\n

Mr. Hope was originally placed in solitary confinement following an escape from prison in 1994.\u00a0 According to Mr. Hope, the \u201cescape risk\u201d designator was removed from his file in 2005, but in the remaining 15 years he has never been moved to the general prison population.\u00a0 Mr. Hope alleges that as a result of his placement in solitary confinement\u2014where he is only let out of his cell for one to two hours a day\u2014he has suffered physical and mental deterioration, including hallucinations and thoughts of suicide.\u00a0 The district court dismissed Mr.\u00a0Hope’s claims, holding that he had failed to establish that he had been denied a constitutional right.\u00a0 Mr. Hope has appealed the dismissal to the Fifth Circuit.<\/p>\n

The amicus brief filed on Monday supports Mr. Hope\u2019s request to reverse the district court\u2019s dismissal, arguing that the court should consider evidence of the extensive harms caused by the overuse of solitary confinement across the country, which has received increased public and judicial scrutiny over the last decade.\u00a0 The brief further explains why the issues raised by solitary confinement are of particular importance to prosecutors and Justice Department officials: the overuse of solitary confinement erodes public trust in the criminal justice system, thereby impeding efforts to protect public safety; it undermines the criminal justice system\u2019s rehabilitative goals; and it is detrimental to efforts to obtain extradition from foreign nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr.\u00a0Hope’s case is remarkable because of the length of time he has spent in solitary confinement, and underscores how damaging and counterproductive these extended placements can be,\u201d said\u00a0Mary McCord<\/a>, Legal Director at ICAP and a former federal prosecutor. \u201cA growing body of research shows that long periods of time in solitary confinement can cause immense physical and mental harm to prisoners, while failing to improve prison safety and undermining confidence in the justice system.\u00a0 It is time that the courts address the grave concerns raised by the continued use of prolonged solitary confinement in jails and prisons across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The signatories hail from 33 different states, include 27 current sitting elected prosecutors, and include former top Department of Justice officials across the political spectrum, from former Attorney General Michael Mukasey to former U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman.\u00a0 The brief and list of signatories can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP)<\/strong><\/p>\n

ICAP uses the power of the courts to defend American constitutional rights and values.\u00a0 Based at Georgetown Law Center, ICAP draws on expert litigators, savvy litigation strategy, and the constitutional scholarship of Georgetown to vindicate individuals\u2019 rights and to protect America\u2019s constitutional way of life.\u00a0 More information about ICAP can be found at law.georgetown.edu\/icap.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September 29, 2020 \u2014 Sixty-eight current and former prosecutors and former U.S. Department of Justice officials signed an amicus curiae (\u201cfriend of the court\u201d) brief filed Monday in Hope v. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"parent":26,"menu_order":14,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"class_list":["post-1643","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1644,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1643\/revisions\/1644"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}