Repeal the Prison Litigation Reform Act

Action

VTDigger/Glenn Russell via AP Photo

This ’90s-era statute makes it extremely difficult for incarcerated people to file and litigate lawsuits, blocking information about abusive conditions in prisons from reaching the public through court filings. Incarcerated journalists and whistleblowers must be able to sound the alarm about the treatment they experience behind bars. Tell Congress to repeal the PLRA today.

Action 1 // takes 1 minute

Send a message to your congressmember

First Name *

Last Name

Email Address *

Street Address *

Zip Code * Enter a five digit US ZIP code

Edit this message so that it is unique to you:

Dear Member of Congress,

I am writing to urge you to repeal the Prison Litigation Reform Act.

The PLRA places extreme restrictions on incarcerated people’s ability to file and litigate civil rights lawsuits.

The law was enacted to fix a nonexistent problem — courts are well equipped to throw out frivolous lawsuits, and there’s no evidence that incarcerated people file them more than anyone else. There’s certainly no proof that any inconvenience resulting from incarcerated people’s lawsuits outweighs the societal interest in their being able to expose abuses.

The PLRA prevents information about government misconduct in prisons from reaching the public, including by forcing incarcerated people to go through a complex and defective grievance system before suing, discouraging attorneys from representing them through fee and award caps, and other red tape.

Civil rights suits are often the best way to make information about prison conditions public, and the only recourse for incarcerated journalists, who often experience retaliation when their work upsets prison officials.

Prisons are the sites of extreme abuse and violence, and incarcerated journalists and whistleblowers must be free to expose the conditions they face behind bars. Please repeal the PLRA.

URLs are not allowed in this message.

* Required. We will not share your information with third parties. Learn more

Something went wrong processing this request. Please try again later.

Opt in to email updates from Freedom of the Press Foundation

Something went wrong and your email updates subscription could not be processed. Please visit our signup page and try again.

Thank you for advocating for incarcerated journalists and urging your representatives to repeal the Prison Litigation Reform Act.

Donate

Share this message on social media:

Join me in advocating on behalf of incarcerated journalists by urging your representatives to repeal the Prison Litigation Reform Act: https://freedom.press/action/repeal-the-prison-litigation-reform-act

Send a message to your congressmember

You completed all actions for this issue.

Sign Up. Take Action.