Jensen v. Thornell

In 2012, the Prison Law Office along with the ACLU National Prison Project, the ACLU of Arizona, Disability Rights of Arizona and Perkins Coie filed a class action lawsuit against the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry. The lawsuit alleged that the conditions in Arizona’s prisons caused incarcerated people to experience cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Specifically, the lawsuit claimed that the medical and mental health care systems fell below constitutional standards and that Arizona’s practice of placing people in solitary confinement was unconstitutional. After years of hotly contested litigation, a settlement was reached in 2015 on the eve of trial. However, the state failed to live up to the terms of the settlement despite being held in contempt, and in July 2021, the Court determined that the settlement was not effective in improving conditions, vacated the settlement and ordered a trial. After a trial, the Court found that the conditions were unconstitutional. The Court appointed four Monitors and issued an injunction that requires massive improvements in healthcare and substantial restrictions on the use of solitary confinement. The Prison Law Office, along with co-counsel, are currently monitoring the state’s compliance with the injunction.