PHILADELPHIA – After months of advocating for relief from the deplorable conditions in the Philadelphia jails in the case Remick v. Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP), Kairys Rudovsky Messing Feinberg and Lin, Abolitionist Law Center, and Dechert LLP announce that the Philadelphia prisons will resume some in-person friend and family visits with incarcerated people starting next week.
Beginning Monday, November 15, visits will be available with incarcerated people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with 48-hour notice.
This update comes after intense legal pressure from the Remick legal team, demanding that the City take action to rectify various inhumane conditions experienced by those individuals incarcerated in Philadelphia Department of Prisons throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. These conditions along with the City’s failure to comply with federal judge’s prior Orders led the lawsuit filed on behalf of incarcerated individuals in April 2020 to be amended to address a range of dire jail conditions, including insufficient out-of-cell time, delays in the provision of medical care, excessive force by corrections officers, violence among incarcerated people, and insufficient access to legal counsel and the courts.
People who are incarcerated in Philadelphia prisons have been without in-person contact from family and friends since March 2020. Studies have shown that in-person visits have substantial benefits for incarcerated people and their families, as well as lowering recidivism rates.
While this development is a step in the right direction, there is still much work to be done to protect the incarcerated population in Philadelphia. The Remick legal team continues to monitor the situation and fight for more out-of-cell time, access to sufficient medical care, and a general reduction of harm that comes as a result of the City’s inaction. If you or an incarcerated person have any issues or problems with family visitation at the Philadelphia prisons, you may call 267-388-1349 to report it the Remick legal team.
For more information on this case, please visit Remick v. City of Philadelphia.
The lawsuit, Remick et al. v. City of Philadelphia, 20-cv-1959, was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs are represented by Su Ming Yeh, Matthew A. Feldman, Grace Harris, and Sarah Bleiberg of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project; David Rudovsky and Susan Lin of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin LLP; Nia Holston, Rupalee Rashatwar, and Bret Grote of Abolitionist Law Center; and Ben Barnett of Dechert LLP.