1.) How many American prisoners file lawsuits against the prison system holding them captive?

27 out of every 1,000 prisoners file a State or Federal Lawsuit about their treatment.

Information from: The University of Michigan Law School

https://www.law.umich.edu/facultyhome/margoschlanger/Documents/Publications/Inmate_Litigation_Results_National_Survey.pdf

2.) How many people are in prison in America?

In 2025, the U.S. prison population is estimated to be nearly 2 million people. This figure includes individuals incarcerated in state prisons, federal prisons, local jails, and other correctional facilities. The Prison Policy Initiative's "Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2025" report provides the most comprehensive view of this incarcerated population. The incarceration rate in the U.S. is one of the highest in the world, with 583 people per 100,000 being locked up.

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2025.html#:~:text=Together%2C%20these%20systems%20hold%20nearly,centers%2C%20state%20psychiatric%20hospitals%2C%20and

3.) So, what is the number of American prisoners filing lawsuits about their treatment each year?

2 million divided by 1,000 equals = 2,000

2,000 times 27 equals 54,000

So, about 54,000 American prisoners file lawsuits in state or federal court about their treatment each year.

4.) Do all prisoners abused in America file lawsuits?

If you have read my book, you know that the prison system knows exactly what to do to limit a prisoner's ability to file a lawsuit. They totally stopped my ability to sue them. If we take into account the amount of prisoners who are abused that do not file a lawsuit, the actual number of American prisoners abused in American prisons is much higher than the 54,000 - much higher. The amount of lawsuits are not only limited by sneaky, underhanded actions by the prison system, but also by the prisoner's ability to file a lawsuit. Some prisoners do not file a lawsuit about their abuse because they don't want to be seen as weak or a 'snitch'. Other prisoners simply don't know how to file a lawsuit and have no one to help them. Their ignorance stops them. Another extremely large group that never files lawsuits are the mentally handicapped. They simply don't have the mental ability to understand what is happening to them, let alone what to do about it. When I was in prison, I found that the prisoners with mental problems were the most abused by the guards. The guards had NO FEAR of the 'Mental Health' prisoners and constantly abused them. Sick but true.

5.) Do prisoners lie about being abused?

I was in prison for over fourteen years and found that saying you were abused by prison staff is frowned upon by other prisoners. It makes the complaining prisoner look weak and often causes that prisoner to be labeled as a 'snitch' for using the legal system. The general mentality among prisoners is that you should physically assault any guard who harms you. Retaliation in the form of physical aggression is admired by prisoners, while lawsuits are frowned upon. So, while some prisoners may lie about the abuse, the vast majority do not. They are risking physical violence from both the prison staff and other prisoners by coming forward with their stories. Lying is rare.

6.) Does America have laws engineered to stop prisoners from filing lawsuits about their abuse by prison staff?

Yes, certain laws protect the prison system from lawsuits, making it more difficult for inmates to sue for constitutional violations or prison conditions. The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) is a primary example of such legislation. It mandates that inmates exhaust all administrative remedies before filing lawsuits related to prison conditions. Often prisoners are held in isolation without mail or access to administrative remedies, called a 'grievance', so they cannot file lawsuits. I explain how this was done to me in my book. The prison system knows if you can't file grievances, you can never file a lawsuit, so they use sneaky, underhanded tactics like placing a prisoner in containment to prevent the first step in the lawsuit process. Containment is when a prisoner is placed in an isolation cell and the guards are told not to give the prisoner the forms to file the grievance and to throw any written complaints in the trash rather than submit them. This was done to me at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina to ensure I could never file a lawsuit about the abuse I suffered there.

There are other Federal laws that prevent prisoners from pursuing lawsuits about their treatment. A solitary federal judge reads each prisoner complaint and has the power to dismiss it without hearing evidence if he/she deems the lawsuit to be 'fantastic' or 'delusional'. This law allows prison staff to abuse prisoners by simply doing something easily deemed as 'fantastic', like using a metal pole to beat a prisoner. This is another loophole for prison abuse. As long as the prison system does something 'crazy', they cannot be charged. I discuss how this happened to me in my book.