Prisoners’ Rights Project – Legal Aid Society

The Prisoners’ Rights Project (PRP) assists prisoners in the New York City jails and New York State prisons with respect to the conditions of confinement. Most of PRP’s work consists of class action lawsuits designed to stop unlawful practices and improve conditions with respect to matters such as medical and mental health care, staff violence, dangerous or unsanitary physical conditions, and denial of education to young people. PRP generally does not represent individual prisoners in lawsuits seeking damages or other relief affecting only themselves. However, PRP does try to help prisoners individually by contacting prison and jail officials about problems involving access to medical care, threats to safety, and access to essential programs and services, among others. PRP also provides prisoners with informational materials on their legal rights, including how to bring their own lawsuits in federal and state courts.