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A Blueprint for Meeting the Needs of Girls in TYC Custody
Drawing on intensive on-site research, this report describes the conditions of confinement experienced by girls in the custody of the Texas Youth Commission (TYC). In TYC's massive juvenile prisons, a harsh regime of control and punishment not only fails to rehabilitate girls, but exacerbates past trauma and inflicts additional damage on confined children.
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Custody and Control The report documents the excessive use of a face-down "restraint" procedure, incidents of sexual abuse, and inadequate educational and mental health services at New York's highest security juvenile prisons for girls. Learn more >>

Corrections Department Returns Women Held In New Jersey Men's Prison To Women's Prison After ACLU Lawsuit (09/04/2008)
TRENTON – Nine months after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the transfer of women prisoners from Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, the state's prison for women, to New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), a men's supermax prison, the Department of Corrections (DOC) has transferred the women back to the women's prison.

Court Bars Corrections Department From Sending More Women To Inhumane Conditions In NJ Men's Prison (07/24/2008)
TRENTON – In three separate opinions today totaling 77 pages, the New Jersey Superior Court stopped the Department of Corrections (DOC) from transferring any more women prisoners to the New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), a men's Supermax prison, for the duration of an ongoing legal battle over previous unlawful transfers. The court also granted the women's request to pursue their claims as a class action. In addition, the court denied a motion by the DOC, brought on five separate legal grounds, to dismiss the women prisoners' complaint, and also rejected the DOC's motion to terminate the case.

ACLU Challenges Solitary Confinement And Unwarranted Strip Searches Of Girls Held In Texas Youth Prison (06/12/2008)
AUSTIN, TX - The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas filed a class action lawsuit today on behalf of five girls – all of whom have histories of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse – held in the Brownwood State School. Brownwood is a "high security" youth prison located in central Texas and operated by the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), the state's juvenile corrections agency. The ACLU charges that TYC subjects the girls to unwarranted solitary confinement, routine strip searches and brutal physical force.

ACLU Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Women Prisoners Confined in Men’s Prison (12/12/2007)
NEWARK - In dual actions challenging the incarceration of 40 women in a men’s maximum security prison, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey filed a civil rights lawsuit and joined more than a dozen other advocacy organizations in support of the women at a demonstration in front of the prison.

ACLU Shares Findings of Two-Week Investigation of Girls in Texas Juvenile Justice System (05/24/2007)
AUSTIN, TX - As part of ongoing efforts to reform and restructure Texas’s juvenile justice system, today the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project released a preliminary report, A Blueprint for Meeting the Needs of Girls in TYC Custody. On Tuesday the ACLU briefed Texas Youth Commission (TYC) Conservator Jay Kimbrough, Acting Executive Director Ed Owens and new Chief Ombudsman Will Harrell on findings and recommendations in the report that resulted from a two-week investigation of all TYC detention facilities that house girls. The report was presented yesterday to key legislative staffers.

A Blueprint for Meeting the Needs of Girls in TYC Custody (05/24/2007)
A Blueprint for Meeting the Needs of Girls in TYC Custody

Custody and Control: Conditions of Confinement in New York’s Juvenile Prisons for Girls (09/25/2006)

Caught in the Net: The Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families (03/15/2005)
In this report, the ACLU, Break the Chains and the Brennan Center for Justice advocate for fair drug laws and policies that adequately take into account the needs of women and their families, and address the root causes of women's involvement with illegal drugs.

The Forgotton Population: A Look at Death Row in the United States Through the Experiences of Women (01/20/2005)
Access the full report here.

Executive Summary of The Forgotten Population: A Look at Death Row in the United States Through the Experiences of Women (11/29/2004)
Since 1973, 148 women have been sentenced to death in the United States. As of December 2004, there are 50 women on Death Row. These women vary in age from 22 to 73 years old and have been on Death Row for periods ranging from a few months to nearly 20 years. While much attention has been paid to women who have already been executed, such as Aileen Wournos and Karla Faye Tucker, little is known about the experiences of women who are living on Death Row.

K.C., et al. v. Nedelkoff, et al. - First Amended Complaint (09/24/2008)

Jones v. Hayman - Court Order Granting Class Certification (07/21/2008)

Jones v. Hayman - Court Order Denying Motion to Dismiss (07/21/2008)

Jones v. Hayman - Court Order Granting Preliminary Injunction (07/21/2008)

K.C. v. Nedelkoff - Class Action Complaint For Declaratory And Injunctive Relief (06/12/2008)

City of Elizabeth City Council Resolution Regarding Treatment of Female Prisoners at New Jersey State Prison (02/06/2008)

City of Newark City Council Resolution Regarding Treatment of Female Prisoners at New Jersey State Prison (02/06/2008)

ACLU Letter to the House Urging Support for H.R. 2282, the Equal Access to Justice Reform Act (03/11/2004)

ACLU Welcomes New Report from Sentencing Project (03/15/2002)

K.C. v. Nedelkoff - Plaintiff Profiles (06/12/2008)
Profiles of courageous girls confronting oppressive conditions in the Texas Youth Commission's Brownwood State School, a youth prison in central Texas. Despite struggles in their own lives, the girls are standing up for their rights and the rights of the other children confined in Brownwood.

An Account of the Transfer from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women to the New Jersey State Prison in May 2007 (12/12/2007)

Incarcerated Girls "Testify" at U.S. Social Forum (06/28/2007)
On June 28, five girls held in juvenile prisons "testified" before a Court of Women convened as part of the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia. Although the girls' confinement prevented them from personally attending the event, digital audio recordings of the girls' testimony was presented to the Court.

Custody and Control: Eye-Witness Account of Abuse in Juvenile Justice (11/29/2006)
Carrie Chalmers was a volunteer tutor at a New York state facility for girls, and relays her first-hand account of the educational, health and abuse crises happening at New York state facilities that were designed to rehabilitate juveniles, but instead seem to build and reinforce a criminal nature.

Custody and Control: A Former Inmate's Account of Abuse in Juvenile Justice (09/29/2006)
"Custody and Control" reports that "delinquent" young girls from backgrounds of intergenerational poverty. Juanita Crawford, 19, spent a year and a half at Lansing Correctional Facility.

Custody and Control: Girls in the Juvenile Justice System (09/25/2006)

Custody and Control: Girls in the Juvenile Justice System (09/25/2006)

New Mexico v. Martinez (03/09/2007)
The Women's Rights Project, Reproductive Freedom Project, and ACLU of New Mexico joined in an amicus effort before the New Mexico Supreme Court to help challenge the arrest and prosecution of Cynthia Martinez, a mother who continued her pregnancy to term in spite of her struggle with drug addiction.

Corrections Department Returns Women Held In New Jersey Men's Prison To Women's Prison After ACLU Lawsuit (09/04/2008)
TRENTON – Nine months after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the transfer of women prisoners from Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, the state's prison for women, to New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), a men's supermax prison, the Department of Corrections (DOC) has transferred the women back to the women's prison.

Court Bars Corrections Department From Sending More Women To Inhumane Conditions In NJ Men's Prison (07/24/2008)
TRENTON – In three separate opinions today totaling 77 pages, the New Jersey Superior Court stopped the Department of Corrections (DOC) from transferring any more women prisoners to the New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), a men's Supermax prison, for the duration of an ongoing legal battle over previous unlawful transfers. The court also granted the women's request to pursue their claims as a class action. In addition, the court denied a motion by the DOC, brought on five separate legal grounds, to dismiss the women prisoners' complaint, and also rejected the DOC's motion to terminate the case.

ACLU Challenges Solitary Confinement And Unwarranted Strip Searches Of Girls Held In Texas Youth Prison (06/12/2008)
AUSTIN, TX - The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas filed a class action lawsuit today on behalf of five girls – all of whom have histories of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse – held in the Brownwood State School. Brownwood is a "high security" youth prison located in central Texas and operated by the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), the state's juvenile corrections agency. The ACLU charges that TYC subjects the girls to unwarranted solitary confinement, routine strip searches and brutal physical force.

ACLU Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Women Prisoners Confined in Men’s Prison (12/12/2007)
NEWARK - In dual actions challenging the incarceration of 40 women in a men’s maximum security prison, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey filed a civil rights lawsuit and joined more than a dozen other advocacy organizations in support of the women at a demonstration in front of the prison.

ACLU Shares Findings of Two-Week Investigation of Girls in Texas Juvenile Justice System (05/24/2007)
AUSTIN, TX - As part of ongoing efforts to reform and restructure Texas’s juvenile justice system, today the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project released a preliminary report, A Blueprint for Meeting the Needs of Girls in TYC Custody. On Tuesday the ACLU briefed Texas Youth Commission (TYC) Conservator Jay Kimbrough, Acting Executive Director Ed Owens and new Chief Ombudsman Will Harrell on findings and recommendations in the report that resulted from a two-week investigation of all TYC detention facilities that house girls. The report was presented yesterday to key legislative staffers.