City of Philadelphia

A class action suit filed in U.S. District Court alleges the city of Philadelphia is packing inmates into overcrowded jails in violation of the Constitution and conditions do not improve once inside the prison system. The suit claims that the city has not provided enough correction officers, resulting in regular lock-downs and restrictive movements at every city prison. The city recently re-opened Holmesburg Prison --which had been closed for a decade-- due to the prison population doubling since 1987. The suit further contends that the conditions constitute cruel and unusual punishment, and risk health and safety of its inmates.