Defending Prisoners’ Rights

Constitutional Rights and Civil Liberties

Section 1983

Sidley’s Section 1983 practice has been a fixture of our pro bono work for many years. The firm worked on more than 20 Section 1983 matters in 2023, amounting to more than 11,300 pro bono hours on behalf of our clients. These matters include suits seeking redress for victims of police misconduct and individuals whose constitutional rights have been violated while incarcerated in jails or prisons. Our lawyers also regularly partner with legal service organizations and experts in the field to file amicus briefs advocating for the rights of prisoners and other vulnerable citizens. We represent clients across the country in trial courts, appellate courts, and at the United States Supreme Court. In 2023, Sidley lawyers worked to achieve settlements and litigation victories for numerous firm clients.

Terry Terrell Pettiway

In partnership with lawyers at a firm client, as well as local counsel, Sidley secured an alternative dispute resolution for the Estate of Terry Terrell Pettiway, an inmate murdered at Alabama’s St. Clair Correctional Facility. The agreement ended three years of federal litigation against officials at the Alabama Department of Corrections and St. Clair, asserting claims under Section 1983 for violations of Mr. Pettiway’s constitutional rights causing his death. Sidley brought the lawsuit after Mr. Pettiway was violently stabbed to death inside St. Clair, one of four men murdered at the prison in the course of less than a year. The lawsuit alleged that St. Clair was an infamously dangerous facility where violence and indifference to safety were commonplace due to understaffing, corruption, mismanagement, poor facility conditions, and lack of supervision and security. The conditions in Alabama prisons, including St. Clair, have been widely reported and have been the subject of investigations and lawsuits by the Department of Justice and the Equal Justice Initiative, among others.

Compassionate Release Work

The firm continues to build upon our compassionate release work, which began in 2020 as part of the Compassionate Release Clearinghouse COVID-19 Project. The national undertaking was launched in collaboration with advocacy organizations FAMM, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Sidley represents incarcerated individuals on petitions to reduce their prison sentences under both the First Step Act (for federal prisoners demonstrating extraordinary and compelling reasons for a sentence reduction) and “Second Look” statutes (for Washington, D.C. and state prisoners) due to health conditions, disparities in sentencing, family circumstances, or sexual abuse in prison.

Capital Litigation

Remembering James Barber

Sidley client James Barber was executed by the State of Alabama on July 21, 2023. Over the course of 16 years, more than 80 Sidley lawyers and professional staff worked tirelessly to prevent Barber’s execution, which was opposed by a granddaughter of Dorothy Epps, the woman whom Barber killed in 2001 while he was struggling with drug addiction. Barber’s story of redemption and his reconciliation with Epps’ granddaughter, Sarah Gregory, were widely covered in the news, including in this Atlantic article. Barber prepared a final statement before his execution, which can be read in full here. Below is an excerpt from his statement:

“At times, I know I’ve failed to do my best. But I made up my mind early on that mere words could not express my sorrow at what had occurred at my hands. And so I hoped that the way I lived my life would be a testimony to the family of Dorothy Epps and also my family, of the regret and shame I have for what I’ve done. I don’t know if I’ve succeeded. I hope God finds my efforts worthy. I hope the Epps family will know I did the only thing that I thought could show my deep regret, and it helps them somehow. Please pray for the Epps family. I love them deeply. Pray for my family, for peace and strength.”