The Prison Law Office is deeply saddened to announce that our co-founder, and first Director, Michael Satris died on July 29, 2020, at the age of 70. Mike and Paul Comiskey founded the Prison Law Office in 1976 after their graduation from UC Davis Law School.  Mike was a tireless advocate for his clients, and without him the office would not exist and many people would still be in prison today.  The San Francisco Chronicle published a tribute to his work on August 21, 2020.

On behalf of the hundreds of people incarcerated in Santa Barbara County Jail, on July 17, 2020, Disability Rights California, Prison Law Office, and King & Spalding LLP reached a groundbreaking settlement with Santa Barbara County and the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office in a class action lawsuit that seeks to address the dangerous and unconstitutional conditions at the jail.

On July 14, 2020, two judges issued orders in the cases brought by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California, the Prison Law Office, and the law firm Bird Marella  on behalf of people incarcerated in the Federal Correctional Institutions in Lompoc (Santa Barbara County) and on Terminal Island (Los Angeles County).

In Torres v. Milusnic, a case brought on behalf of people at FCI-Lompoc, District Judge Consuelo Marshall ordered the Federal Bureau of Prisons to develop a process to identify all people held in the prison who are over the age of 50, or who have certain underlying medical conditions that put them at higher risk of complications from COVID-19.  Judge Marshall directed BOP to notify these incarcerated people by July 22, 2020 that they are being considered for release to home confinement or compassionate release, and to provide the court with the criteria for early release by that date, and that BOP complete the evaluation of the vulnerable people by July 28.

In Wilson v. Ponce, a case brought on behalf of people in FCI-Terminal Island, District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald denied Plaintiffs’ request that he order BOP for a process for immediate evaluation of the incarcerated people for home confinement or compassionate release on the basis that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”) barred such an order.  However, before ruling on the conditions at the prison, he ordered independent medical expert Dr. Michael Rowe conduct an independent site visit of the prison no later than August 3, 2020.

The Prison Law Office stands in solidarity with people across the world and the United States calling for justice for George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Atatiana Jefferson, Rayshard Brooks, and the scores of other Black, indigenous, and people of color who have been victims of state-sanctioned law enforcement brutality in this country since its founding.

The Prison Law Office filed an emergency motion in federal court to force the Riverside County jails to institute physical distancing for all people living in the jails and provide appropriate hygiene supplies to disinfect and protect against the spread of COVID-19.