Oral Argument on Class Certification in Ashker v. Brown (Solitary Punishment as Cruel and Unusual Punishment)

Please join us on Thursday, Sept. 26 for oral arguments on class certification in Ashker v. Brown, our federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at the Pelican Bay State Prison in California.

In the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit (SHU) and other California SHUs, prisoners are isolated in near-total solitude for between 22 ½ and 24 hours a day, denied telephone calls, contact visits, and vocational, recreational, or educational programs.

The court will hear arguments as to whether Ashker v. Brown should be certified as a class action lawsuit. Plaintiffs are seeking to certify a class of all prisoners serving indeterminate sentences at the Pelican Bay SHU on the basis of gang validation for purposes of our due process claim, and a subclass of all prisoners who have been held at the Pelican Bay SHU for more than 10 years for purposes of our Eighth Amendment claim.

Please pack the Court on August 22nd.

What:
– 1:00 PM: Press Conference and rally outside the Courthouse.
– 2:00 PM: Oral Argument in Ashker v. Brown on class certification, before Chief District Judge Claudia Wilken.

We suggest arriving 30 minutes to one hour early, in order to go through security. Everyone will need a current form of identification in order to get inside the building.

More info. IndyBay notice.