Court Cases

Isaac N., et al. v. Polis, et al.

Filed: March 18, 2026
Status: Pending
Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
Latest Update: Mar 25, 2026

Summary

The ACLU of Colorado filed a class action lawsuit seeking a declaration that state of Colorado officials are illegally confining hundreds of children in dangerous detention facilities instead of providing them with community services.

For years, Colorado officials have knowingly incarcerated children after the juvenile courts hearing their cases have determined they can be released from custody. It often takes days and weeks, if not months, for these children to be released to “placements” in the community where they can be provided services they need. The majority of these releasable children also have disabilities and require therapeutic care in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their needs, not imprisonment. Unnecessarily holding children in highly restrictive “jail like” juvenile detention facilities not only violates their Constitutional rights, but causes immense physical, psychological, and developmental harm that can last the rest of their lives and often results in continued involvement in the criminal legal system.

The story of 17-year-old named plaintiff Isaac N. is all too familiar. He has been in a juvenile detention facility for almost two months despite a juvenile court judge ruling that he could be returned to his community, where services that can be provided at home already exist. Instead, during his lengthy and unnecessary confinement he has been denied prescribed medication, watched seven adult staff members “take down” one child, and heard staff use racial slurs against others. Isaac N. just wants to go to the movies and be a teenager. He hopes to finish his GED and pursue a trade, like HVAC so that he can “beat the system” like other members of his family have. He wants to follow the example of positive adult role models in his life. Isaac N. says he does not understand why he is “stuck” inside a place that is hurting him instead of helping him.

The other named plaintiff in the lawsuit is 12-year-old Tony S. He is not serving a commitment sentence, and a juvenile court judge deemed him releasable. Yet Tony S. has since been held in a restrictive juvenile detention facility for six months. He is a representative of the Disability and Foster Care Subclasses identified in the complaint, meaning he is in legal custody of the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) and is severely impacted by the environment and lack of care provided in juvenile detention. Tony S. is just a child who enjoys playing Clue and listening to country music but has been unnecessarily detained by the state for a long period of time as a result of the government’s deficiencies.

On March 18, 2026, the ACLU of Colorado, Disability Rights Colorado, Children’s Rights, ACLU’s National Prison Project, and pro bono counsel from Ropes & Gray, LLP filed a class action lawsuit asking for declaratory and injunctive relief. The complaint brings Fourteenth Amendment due process claims as well as claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The rights of all children in the custody of the State’s juvenile detention and child welfare systems are protected by the substantive due process and procedural due process provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, the right to be free from detention pending trial is a basic liberty interest of both adults and children, also protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Due process likewise protects an individual from punishment while they are awaiting trial. On behalf of the class, we are asking that state officials make the release of young people possible by developing the legally required procedures, placements, and services that are required so that these children can leave the harmful juvenile detention system.