The short answer is “yes” although these cases are difficult to prove.
When incarcerated, prisoners lose many of their civil rights. However, prisoners do maintain certain rights regardless of their incarceration status. Generally, prisoners maintain constitutional rights while incarcerated such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Poor or a complete lack of medical treatment, dangerous or hazardous conditions, assaults and threats from prison employees against inmates to prevent complaints may all justify a lawsuit against a prison.
The distinction between an inmate filing a claim to recover for a personal injury and a person in “society” is that prisoners must traditionally exhaust administrative remedies prior to filing a lawsuit in state or federal court. In other words, the inmate must go through the prison’s own grievance procedure first prior to filing a lawsuit.
If you are an inmate, or are the family or family member of an inmate, and believe that you or a loved one have a claim against a prison for personal injuries, contact the reputable Illinois personal injury attorneys at Argento Law Group, P.C. at (847) 628-8305.
