P.D. v. Middlesex County

The ACLU-NJ represents P.D., a pretrial detainee with mental illness who, after being unable to make bail, was held in solitary confinement for more than four months.

The ACLU-NJ represents P.D., a pretrial detainee with mental illness who, after being unable to make bail, was held in solitary confinement for more than four months. While in “Lower-C Pod,” as the solitary unit is called, P.D. was let out of his cell for only one hour per day, five days per week. In that hour he either showered or paced in a ten-foot-by-ten-foot chain-linked cage in the center of his housing unit. He had to receive his meals and medication through a slot in the door, and he was never outside orb to interact with other prisoners.

The case settled on January 8, 2018.