ICAP represented Brian McNeal, an individual who remained in Lousiana prison for 41 days after his release date because prison officials failed to convey his release date to the facility holding him. He brought a damages suit against the prison officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, arguing that his unlawful imprisonment was directly attributable to those officials’ deliberate indifference toward the prison system’s ongoing practice of unlawfully detaining prisoners beyond their release dates.
After co-counsel successfully defended the suit against a motion to dismiss, ICAP joined at the Supreme Court to oppose a cert petition filed by the Louisiana prison officials. ICAP argued that that prior precedent barring suits that collaterally challenged an individual’s conviction were inapplicable here, where Mr. McNeal assumed the validity of his sentence and challenged only his detention beyond his release date. In October 2024, the Supreme Court denied Louisana’s petition.
