Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg. –Haruki Murakami
California’s prisons remain dangerously overcrowded at 195% of design capacity with over 160,000 prisoners crammed into 33 institutions, plus another 10,000 prisoners housed out-of-state and in community facilities. Basic necessities of life, such as medical and mental health care, are often lacking. Prisoners with disabilities are not recognized as disabled, and many are not provided reasonable accommodations as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Through both individual and impact litigation, Syd Arthur Licit strives to enforce more humane California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation policies and practices, and to alleviate many of the cruel and unusual conditions that have been inflicted upon tens of thousands of state prisoners.
Syd Arthur Licit provides legal services to California state prisoners, and to California state parolees. We represent prisoners in habeas corpus proceedings, in matters regarding conditions of confinement, and generally in the protection of Constitutional rights. We attempt to resolve cases informally, if possible, by advocating to prison officials, and then, if necessary, by formal litigation.