Johnson v. High Desert State Prison

When three incarcerated people brought a suit against a California prison asserting claims arising from the same incident in which they were tortured for nine hours, a magistrate judge locked them out of the court by imposing a categorical bar in “multi-plaintiff pro se actions” — but Congress has never imposed such a categorical bar. The MacArthur Justice Center is fighting to ensure that prisoners — like any other person filing suit — can file joint lawsuits. 

While incarcerated at the High Desert State Prison in California, Topaz Johnson, Ian Henderson, and Kevin Jones spent nine hours standing handcuffed with their hands behind their back in dirty, 2 ½ foot by 2 ½ holding cages that smelled of urine. The three men filed a joint lawsuit against the prison officials responsible for subjecting them to these torturous conditions. But without looking at what Johnson, Henderson, and Jones actually alleged, the district court forbade them from litigating jointly, even though federal court rules say that any “person” can do so.

The MacArthur Justice Center (MJC) represent Mr. Johnson and Mr. Henderson on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit, arguing that the district court’s reasoning violates the Supreme Court’s instructions that courts should not make up new rules to disadvantage prisoners where Congress has not.