This lawsuit challenged solitary confinement practices at the Middlesex County Jail in “C-Pod”, a unit specifically for solitary confinement. Whether people are placed there for their own protection, for disciplinary reasons, or to separate them from a codefendant while they await trial for years, the conditions are equally deplorable. Plaintiffs are locked in a small cell alone almost continuously, where they languish in a state of forced idleness. They cannot interact with other inmates, family cannot visit them; they are not allowed outdoors; and they cannot participate in religious, educational or rehabilitative programs. The ACLU-NJ and its co-counsel partners sought to remedy the unconstitutional conditions in C-Pod and help set the minimum standards that must be adhered to going forward.
On October 24, 2018, the case was closed following a settlement agreement that implemented expansive reforms.
