Settlement Reached with the Connecticut Department of Correction: Advances Protections for Incarcerated People with Mental Illness

Hartford, Conn. – On Monday, July 27, 2026, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Connecticut (ACLU-CT) and co-counsel Morrison & Foerster, LLP and Disability Rights Connecticut (DRCT) announced a settlement with the Connecticut Department of Corrections (CDOC), resolving a case challenging CDOC’s in-cell shackling of prisoners with mental illness.

CDOC’s longtime practice of in-cell shackling prisoners with mental illness was severely psychologically damaging and physically abusive. CDOC’s in-cell shackling involved chaining a prisoner’s legs and wrists, binding their hands to their feet with a tether chain, and then leaving them locked in their cell for hours or even days. Experts have identified in-cell shackling as particularly harmful for persons with mental illness because it was often used in response to symptoms of mental illness with little medical or mental health oversight, worsened the symptoms of the most vulnerable prisoners, and could lead to decompensation and attempts at severe self-harm.

Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, CDOC must end use of in-cell restraints by September 1, 2026. The settlement also requires CDOC to implement other reforms designed to avoid the unnecessary and harmful restraint of prisoners with mental illness, to ensure transparency in documenting and reporting instances of other types of physical restraint, and to ensure proper training and medical and mental health oversight. The agreement reflects years of advocacy and makes significant progress toward ensuring that people with mental illness receive adequate care and are not subjected to punishment on account of their mental health.

“This settlement represents an important step toward ensuring that Connecticut’s prisons treat people with mental illness with the dignity and care they deserve,” said Jaclyn Blickley, Staff Attorney for the ACLU Foundation of Connecticut. “The state cannot subject people with mental illness to abuse, and we will continue to hold the Connecticut Department of Correction to the commitments they have made to changing their practices.”

“We are grateful to have worked with Disability Rights Connecticut and Connecticut ACLU to finally bring to an end Connecticut DOC’s barbaric, physically harmful, and psychologically damaging in-cell shackling of prisoners with mental illness,” said Kyle Mooney, the Morrison Foerster partner who led the firm’s pro bono representation of Disability Rights Connecticut.

“This settlement is an important step toward protecting incarcerated people with mental health disabilities from unnecessary and harmful restraint,” said Kasey Considine, Legal Director at Disability Rights Connecticut.

For more background on the case, visit the case page here.

To speak with co-counsel at Morrison & Foerster, LLP, please reach out to Bridget Glynn, Morrison Foerster Public Relations Specialist at (646) 220-5509 and bglynn@mofo.com.

To speak with co-counsel at Disability Rights Connecticut (DRCT), please reach out to Bernard Kavaler, Express Strategies at (860) 729-3021 and bernard@express-strategies.com.

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