Lawsuit over solitary confinement in limbo as state pushes for mediation
Attorneys for prisoners want the lawsuit to go on. A federal judge heard arguments Thursday.
Northern Correctional Institution, in Somers, will close by July 1.
State attorneys and lawyers representing incarcerated people with mental health conditions argued Thursday over how to proceed in a lawsuit filed in February seeking to prohibit the use of in-cell shackling and solitary confinement of individuals with mental illnesses.
The state wants the case to be suspended while they try to mediate the lawsuit outside the bounds of litigation and await a court ruling on their motion to get the case dismissed, while attorneys for the incarcerated want the negotiations and lawsuit to proceed in tandem.