PENNSYLVANIA INSTITUTIONAL LAW PROJECT
CAST IRON BLDG 718 ARCH ST NO 304 S, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106 www.pailp.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: THE PENNSYLVANIA INSTITUTIONAL LAW PROJECT SEEKS TO DELIVER CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES TO THE INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION OF OUR COMMONWEALTH. DIFFICULTIES WITH ACCESS AND THE UNIQUE NATURE OF INSTITUTIONAL LEGAL ISSUES REQUIRE A SPECIALIZED METHOD OF DELIVERING SUCH SERVICES.THE PROJECT WAS CREATED AND DESIGNED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF LOW INCOME RESIDENTS OF OUR PRISONS, JAILS, STATE HOSPITALS, AND STATECENTERS.THE GOAL OF THE INSTITUTIONAL LAW PROJECT IS TO ENSURE EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR INDIGENT INSTITUTIONALIZED PERSONS. WE ARE A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION ADMINISTERED BY THE PA LEGAL AID NETWORK, INC.

OUR GOALS CONTINUE TO BE PROVIDING COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL REPRESENTATION TO AN EXTREMELY VULNERABLE POPULATION OF INSTITUTIONALIZED PERSONS. PILP HAD AN EXCEPTIONS YEAR IN TERMS OF ITS PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS. PILP CONTINUED TO ADVANCE THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS OF PEOPLE INCARCERATED AND INSTITUTIONALIZED IN PENNSYLVANIA, BUT PROVIDING LEGAL ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE TO OVER 1200 INDIVIDUAL CLIENTS AND LITIGATING CRITICAL ISSUES IN COURT.PILP CONTINUED TO FIGHT AGAINST SEXUAL ABUSE IN REPRESENTING AN IMMIGRATION DETAINEE HELD WITH HER 3-YEAR SON WAS SEXUALLY ABUSED BY A COUNTY STAFF MEMBER WHO HAD CUSTODIAL DUTIES OVER HER. THE CASE CULMINATED IN DECHERT LLP JOINING AS PRO BONO COUNSEL, ACTIVE PREPARATIONS FOR TRIAL, AND THEN SECURING A SIGNIFICANT SETTLEMENT FOR OUR CLIENT JUST DAYS BEFORE TRIAL. IN SEEKING EQUAL TREATMENT FOR WOMEN AND MEN, PILP HAD BROUGHT A CLASS ACTION AGAINST BERKS COUNTY JAIL FOR UNEQUAL TREATMENT OF "TRUSTY" WOMEN AND MEN. IN A FEDERAL CASE THAT MOVED AT LIGHTNING SPEED, PILP HAD WON SEVERAL PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE WOMEN, DEFENDED THESE ORDERS ON APPEAL IN THE U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT, AND THEN THE SAME YEAR, WON A WEEK-LONG CLASS ACTION JURY TRIAL.PILP CONTINUED TO REPRESENT A WOMAN WHO WAS SHACKLED WHILE GIVING BIRTH AND PLACED IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT WHILE PREGNANT, AND FILED A CASE ON BEHALF OF A NON-BINARY INCARCERATED PERSON SEEKING ADEQUATE MEDICAL CARE, AND ACCOMMODATIONS AND HOUSING TO PROTECT THEIR SAFETY.PILP REPRESENTED 3 BLACK MEN WHO WERE PLACED IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT AT LEBANON COUNTY JAIL FOR REFUSING TO CUT OF THEIR DREADLOCKS DUE TO RELIGIOUS REASONS. DURING LITIGATION, THE JAIL REVISED ITS POLICY AND LET THE MEN OUT OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.PILP ALSO CONTINUED TO ADDRESS THE HORRIFIC CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT AT THE UNITED STATES PENITENTIARY ("USP") AT LEWISBURG, THROUGH TWO ONGOING CLASS ACTIONS. PILP ALSO REPRESENTED A MAN INCARCERATED AT UPS LEWISBURG WHO HAD BEEN DRAGGED OFF A BUS, AND THEN PEPPER SPRAYED DUE TO HIS INABILITY TO WALK OR STAND, DESPITE NEEDING A WHEELCHAIR FOR OVER A DECADE. PILP PREPARED FOR TRIAL, AND THEN WAS ABLE TO OBTAIN A SATISFACTORY SETTLEMENT FOR THE CLIENT DAYS BEFORE TRIAL.STARTING IN MARCH 2020, PILP BEGAN TO ADDRESS THE CONCERNING COVID-19 ISSUES IN PRISONS AND JAILS, AND INITIATED A CAMPAIGN OF MONITORING, INVESTIGATION, ADVOCACY, AND LITIGATION TO PROTECT INDIVIDUALS FROM THE AFFECTS OF COVID-19 AND ENSURE HUMANE CONDITIONS. THESE ARE FURTHER DESCRIBED ABOVE.IN MAY 2020, WITH THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD CATALYZING A MOVEMENT SEEKING TO ADDRESS SYSTEMIC AND STRUCTURAL RACISM, ESPECIALLY IN LAW ENFORCEMENT, PILP ISSUED A STATEMENT AGAINST SYSTEMIC VIOLENCE AND RACISM. SINCE THEN, PILP HAS ACTIVELY SOUGHT TO ADDRESS RACIAL INJUSTICES IN THE MASS INCARCERATION SYSTEM.

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