''Cunningham v. Federal Bureau of Prisons'' was a federal class-action lawsuit against the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

and officials who run

ADX Florence The United States Penitentiary, Florence Administrative Maximum Facility (USP Florence ADMAX), commonly known as ADX Florence, is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Pris ...

, a supermax prison in

Fremont County, Colorado Fremont County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,939. The county seat is Cañon City. The county is named for 19th-century explorer and presidential candidate John C. Frémont. Fre ...

. In 2012, 11 inmates filed the suit, originally named ''Bacote v. Federal Bureau of Prisons''. The suit alleged chronic abuse, failure to properly diagnose, and neglect of prisoners who are seriously mentally ill. The prisoners were represented by the firm

Arnold & Porter Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP is an American multinational law firm. A white-shoe firm, Arnold & Porter is among the largest law firms in the world, by both revenue and by its number of lawyers. History Arnold & Porter was founded in 1946 ...

and the DC Prisoners' Project of the

Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. ADX Florence was not legally permitted to hold prisoners who were mentally ill. Prisoners at the supermax facility had filed 14 lawsuits prior to ''Cunningham''. The class-action suit progressed through pretrial discovery. Discussions between the parties led to a settlement that included additional mental health screenings by medical professionals and a lifting of the ban on psychotropic medicine in the Control Unit of the prison. As part of the settlement, Federal Bureau of Prisons officials agreed to changes in their mental health treatment protocols at ADX Florence. Federal officials also agreed to improved training of personnel on recognizing and responding to mental illness.

United States District Court for the District of Colorado The United States District Court for the District of Colorado (in case citations, D. Colo. or D. Col.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ap ...

judge

Richard Paul Matsch Richard Paul Matsch (June 8, 1930 – May 26, 2019) was an American judge who served as Senior Status, Senior United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Education an ...

approved the settlement in December 2016. Due to the lawsuit, over 100 prisoners who had been diagnosed with mental illnesses were transferred to other facilities.

References

External links

Cunningham v. FBP, No. 17-1054 (10th Cir. 2017)
at Justia Class action lawsuits Federal Bureau of Prisons United States lawsuits {{US-law-stub