Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts

PLS promotes the safe, humane and lawful treatment of MA prisoners through litigation, advocacy, and outreach.

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

To learn more about our findings, read our open letter to SCSD leadership: https://t.co/eZjz4AGNUd

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

In December 2025, Shacoby Kenny died by homicide at the hands of Suffolk County Sheriff's Department (SCSD) corrections officers. He was a young Black man being held pretrial because he could not afford bail.

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

Today, PLS Executive Director Dave Rini testified before the Boston City Council about our investigation into the use of force at SCSD. He spoke alongside advocates and directly impacted community members, including Mr. Kenny's mother.

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

Writings can be accessed at: https://t.co/4doaT3EGoK

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

The DOC's Institutional Fact Cards provide valuable data on MA's incarcerated population. MCI-Norfolk Lifers Group, Inc. & Project Youth examine and contextualize these statistics, offering insights that help look beyond the numbers & understand the challenges of incarceration.

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

Full story: https://t.co/vfQJgo3hJg

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

More than 140 people died in Massachusetts prisons and jails between January 2022 and December 2025. Six people died by suicide in 2025 alone.

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

About half the deaths over those 4 years were categorized as "expected." Dr. Nicole Mushero, a geriatrician at BMC who analyzed deaths from 2021 through 2023, concluded that nearly half of those people could have been eligible for medical parole. They died in custody instead.

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

People who are dying should be able to spend the time they have left with their families, not shackled to a bed. That is what this law was written to do. https://t.co/JsEp8DIwWR

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

MA has one of the oldest prison populations in the country. Our medical parole law is meant to let people with advanced illness go home when they are no longer a public safety risk. Despite the re-arrest rate being virtually zero for people over 65, most petitions are denied.

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

We're hiring an attorney! Join the team at Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts and help advance justice for incarcerated people across the Commonwealth. Learn more and apply: https://t.co/l66p64oIc0

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

Emerson Prison Initiative (EPI) provides a bachelor degree program for individuals incarcerated in MA. Starting in January, 15 men at Norfolk Prison will have the opportunity to earn a graduate certificate in a first-of-its-kind program offered by EPI. https://t.co/v7L3qLwoKD

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

Massachusetts can't claim to protect immigrants while actively funneling people from prison into a deportation machine that ignores due process and violates their rights. Massachusetts must end its 287(g) agreement. https://t.co/hnJXlxZGaZ

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

A major shortcoming of the recently passed PROTECT Act is its exception for the state prison system’s partnership with ICE.

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

Since 2007 the MA DOC has participated in the federal 287(g) program and, as part of its contract, regularly sends people exiting prisons directly into ICE custody.

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

https://t.co/ScoQk4IMR2

[Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts @PLSMA]

Emil Encarnacion, 29, died last week in a behavioral assessment unit at MCI-Norfolk. It would be the fourth BAU suicide since April 2025 and the third in that unit. State law defines restrictive housing as 22 hours a day of isolation. BAUs hold people for 21.