On March 8, 2007, the Disability Law Center (“DLC”) filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §12131, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §794 against the Massachusetts Department of Correction (“DOC”) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The DLC is the agency designated by the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act, 42 U.S.C. §§10801 et seq. to pursue legal, administrative, and other appropriate remedies to ensure that individuals with mental illnesses confined in Massachusetts prisons are protected from abuse and neglect.

The DLC claimed that the DOC failed to take into account mental illness when subjecting prisoners to long periods of disciplinary and other forms of isolation and segregation. Plaintiff asked the Court for declaratory and injunctive relief, claiming that isolation of mentally ill prisoners constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and that DOC’s failure to address the problem violates both the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and the American with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq.

The parties began settlement negotiations in November 2007 and in 2008 sought mediation from the court. Discovery and litigation were generally stayed. For two years, the parties were unsuccessful in their negotiations, and on February 9, 2010, the Court lifted the stay.

Extensive discovery ensued, and eventually, the parties renewed negotiations. In December 2011, the parties reached a settlement and sought Court approval. On April 12, 2012, the Court (Chief Judge Wolf) after a lengthy exploration of judicial authority to approve private settlements in which the Defendant does not admit liability approved the settlement, holding that doing so would not violate the PLRA.

The settlement agreement establishes detailed procedures, training, time limits, and recordkeeping to ensure that mentally ill prisoners are not placed in isolation or segregation without a full evaluation and determination that such placement will not cause further injury.

The Court retained the case on its docket, on hold but ready to be revived in the event of a claimed breach of the settlement agreement, for three years, with an additional two years possible.

Denise Heberle - 04/16/2012


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