Three men held at Menard Correctional Center say they were locked for months in "dungeon-like" solitary cells and repeatedly shut out of any meaningful chance to exercise, leaving them with lasting physical and psychological damage, according to a new federal complaint. Filed in U.S. District Court in southern Illinois, the suit casts the loss of outdoor time as a basic deprivation rather than a routine disciplinary tool. Their attorneys say the case shines a light on long-running lockdown practices at the southern Illinois prison.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, the amended complaint names Omar Johnson, Clarence Jones and Alexander Castillo. It alleges Illinois Department of Corrections staff confined them in small, unventilated cells, sometimes with black mold and extreme temperatures, and refused to allow yard access or other out-of-cell exercise. According to the filing, the cramped conditions made it impossible for the men to fully extend their arms or meaningfully move their bodies, and exercise was withheld not for any documented, imminent safety reason but as part of stacked disciplinary punishments.
The complaint argues that "[t]he ability to exercise is a constitutionally protected basic human need, just like food, water, and warmth" and alleges that Clarence Jones spent 356 consecutive days in segregation, losing yard access after he received a disciplinary ticket for having a needle in his cell. The suit says Jones developed muscle atrophy and chronic neck and back pain and that the lack of movement caused long-term physical and psychological injury. According to the Tribune, the amended pleading was filed with help from the Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center and the law firm Akin Gump after Johnson first submitted a handwritten pro se complaint in March.
Lockdowns, Staffing And Past Court Fights
Menard has been here before. The prison has long drawn lawsuits and scrutiny over lockdowns and sharply limited out-of-cell time, often tied to staffing shortages. Court documents in Croom v. Hughes describe extended lockdowns imposed in recent months because of chronic staffing shortfalls. Judges in those cases have been asked to decide when the prolonged loss of yard time crosses the constitutional line.
How Courts Weigh These Conditions
Federal law does not treat restrictive housing as automatically unconstitutional. But courts have repeatedly held that when prison conditions, taken together, deprive people of basic human needs such as exercise, sanitation, sunlight and social contact, they can violate the Eighth Amendment if they create an excessive risk of serious harm. A Department of Justice findings report and related case law explain that judges look at cell size, the number of hours a person is locked in each day, the overall length of confinement and the level of sanitation when deciding whether conditions amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Department guidance cites precedent that treats prolonged denial of exercise and squalid living conditions as potential constitutional violations.
Part Of A Broader Push
The Menard lawsuit lands amid a growing wave of challenges to solitary and other restrictive housing across the country. Recent cases in multiple states, including a class action in Oregon that also involves the MacArthur Justice Center and Akin Gump, argue that similar isolation practices are dangerous and unnecessary and ask courts to rein in or overhaul long-term solitary policies. Reporting from South Carolina Lawyers Weekly notes that these suits often raise both constitutional and disability-law claims.
Menard Correctional Center is a maximum-security state prison in Chester, Illinois. The Illinois Department of Corrections lists Menard and its contact information on its website and describes the facility as a large, long-running reception and classification center for men entering the state system. The amended complaint is pending in federal court in the Southern District of Illinois, where a judge will set the schedule for what happens next.
