Class action lawsuit challenges Massachusetts’ practice of incarcerating women solely for drug or alcohol addiction

Massachusetts is the only state in the country where women who suffer from addiction are imprisoned even though they have not been convicted of any crime. Hundreds of these women are civilly committed at MCI Framingham, where they cannot even access the addiction treatment programs available to sentenced prisoners. A federal civil rights lawsuit filed in June 2014 seeks to end this practice, alleging civil rights violations and discrimination.

This case is brought by attorneys from the ACLU of Massachusetts, Prisoners’ Legal Services, the Center for Public Representation, and WilmerHale. Read the ACLU’s statement about this case.