Legal
Colorado ACLU Cases

Legal Department Docket, 2002-Present

Case Name: Shook v. Board of County Commissioners, El Paso County
Case Number: No. 02-M-0651, United States District Court, District of Colorado; No. 03-1397, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals; No. 06-1454, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
ACLU Case Number: 2001-14

Description: This class action alleges that the El Paso County Jail in Colorado Springs fails to protect and provide adequately for prisoners with serious mental health needs, a group that makes up a steadily-increasing portion of the jail's population. When the lawsuit was filed in April 2002, nine prisoners had died in the jail in recent years. In almost every case, the deceased prisoner was suicidal, seriously mentally ill, or displaying symptoms of psychosis from overdose or withdrawal. In the first year that the lawsuit was pending, two additional prisoners in the jail died from suicide.

In July, 2002, the district court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss, but it also denied the plaintiffs' motion for class certification. Plaintiffs appealed the denial of class certification, and they won a favorable 3-0 ruling in the Tenth Circuit on October 18, 2004.

After the case returned to the district court in 2005, the Plaintiffs filed a Supplemental Complaint. Additional prisoners intervened as plaintiffs, and Plaintiffs filed a renewed motion for class certification. In July, 2005, the district court denied class certification a second time, and the Plaintiffs appealed again to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Issues: Rights of prisoners

Published Opinions: Shook v. Board of County Commissioners, 216 F.R.D. 644 (D. Colo. 2003), rev'd, 386 F.3d 963 (10th Cir. 2004)

ACLU of Colorado Attorneys: Tom Nichols, Mark Silverstein

Additional Co-counsel: David Fathi, ACLU National Prison Project

Links to Selected Documents:

ACLU News Release, November 5, 2001, "Series of inmate deaths in El Paso County Jail Prompts ACLU call for investigation"

ACLU Letter to El Paso County Board of Commissioners requesting investigation, November 5, 2001

Complaint, filed April 2, 2002

ACLU News Release, April 2, 2002, "ACLU of Colorado files class action suit challenging El Paso County Jail's treatment of mentally ill prisoners"

ACLU opening brief, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Jan 13, 2004

ACLU Reply Brief, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 16, 2004

Shook v. Board of County Commissioners, 386 F.3d 963 (10th Cir. 2004)

"Federal Appeals Court Reinstates ACLU Class Action Lawsuit Over El Paso County Jail," ACLU News Release, October 18, 2004

Supplemental Complaint, filed January, 2005

ACLU opening brief, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Feb. 9, 2007

Amicus brief, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Feb. 20, 2007

ACLU reply brief, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 1, 2007

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