On April 5, 1990, prisoners of the District of Columbia filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the District of Columbia in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs, represented by the D.C. Prisoners' Legal Services Project, the American Civil Liberties Union and private counsel, asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging that their constitutional rights had been violated by inadequate medical care, an inadequate law library, lack of educational and vocational programming, and the denial of the opportunity to earn good time credits.

On November 12, 1991, the district court (Judge Thomas F. Hogan) granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs on their claim regarding access to courts. On September 25, 1992, after the defendants had failed to comply with the district court's order, the court began to impose daily fines on the defendants until they came into full compliance. On October 26, 1992, the district court (Judge Hogan) granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs on their medical care claim, but the court also granted summary judgment to the defendants on the programming claim. The defendants appealed.

On September 13, 1993, the parties proposed a settlement agreement to the court, and on November 9, 1993, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit remanded the case for further consideration of the settlement agreement. On July 8, 1994, the district court (Judge Hogan) approved the settlement agreement and dismissed the case.

On September 29, 2000, the plaintiffs asked the court to reopen the case for enforcement of the settlement agreement, alleging that the defendants had not been compliant. On October 2, 2000, the district court (Judge Hogan) declined to reinstate the case. The plaintiffs appealed. On November 13, 2000, the District of Columbia Circuit (Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg) affirmed the district court's refusal to reopen the case. Green v. District of Columbia, No. 99-7245, 2000 WL 1838751 (D.C.Cir. Nov. 13, 2000). The plaintiffs petitioned for rehearing, and on May 30, 2001, the District of Columbia Circuit issued a per curiam denial of that petition. Green v. District of Columbia, No. 00-7292, 2001, WL 674621 (D.C.Cir. May 30, 2001). Our docket, which is accurate as of October 25, 2005, ends at this point, and we have no further information on the proceedings in this case.

Kristen Sagar - 09/28/2006


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