Porter v. Clarke

The State of Virginia housed Thomas Porter and other death-row prisoners (the prisoners) (plaintiffs) in isolated cells for 23 to 24 hours per day. The prisoners were not allowed to gather with other human beings for recreation, religious worship, or any reason. The prisoners filed a class action in federal district court against Harold Clarke, director of the Virginia Department of Corrections, and others (the state) (defendants), alleging that their long-term solitary confinement violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment and seeking an order preventing the state from housing death-row prisoners in solitary confinement. The prisoners moved for summary judgment, presenting evidence from expert witnesses that (1) extended solitary confinement created a substantial risk of serious psychological and emotional harm and (2) many of them had already suffered serious psychological injuries from the sensory and social deprivation of their solitary confinement. The state did not present any evidence contesting that solitary confinement could cause serious harm. Instead, the state claimed that (1) the prisoners’ conditions did not qualify as solitary confinement and (2) the prisoners’ current psychological issues were no different from those suffered by someone serving a life sentence but not in solitary confinement. The district court ruled that the undisputed evidence established that the state’s death-row conditions violated the Eighth Amendment, and the court granted summary judgment to the prisoners. The state appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.