An RBGG team led by Ernest Galvan, Marc J. Shinn-Krantz, and Hannah Motley Davis, and in-house co-counsel Jonathan Picard, successfully reached a pre-suit settlement for our client, non-profit publisher Human Rights Defense Center (“HRDC”), regarding HRDC’s claims of unconstitutional censorship of books and correspondence sent to people incarcerated at the California Department of State Hospitals (DSH). The press release is available here.
HRDC is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting human rights in U.S. detention facilities. HRDC publishes Prison Legal News (PLN) and Criminal Legal News (CLN), monthly magazines that include reports, reviews and analysis of court rulings and news related to prisoners’ rights and criminal justice issues, as well as books that inform prisoners of educational opportunities, their rights and how to enforce them. HRDC filed a state tort claim in March, 2025. According to the tort claim, DSH-Atascadero staff refused to deliver books and correspondence sent to patients incarcerated at the hospital. DSH-Atascadero maintained policies, practices, and customs that unconstitutionally prohibit delivery of publications and correspondence mailed to persons confined at the hospital for mental health treatment, and that deny due process of law to senders whose mail is censored by failing to provide adequate notice and an opportunity to challenge each instance of censorship, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 2 and 7 of the California Constitution.
On June 22, 2026, DSH officials and HRDC entered into a formal settlement agreement in which DSH, without making any admission of liability, agreed to pay HRDC $362,500 to resolve its claims. Under the settlement agreement, DSH has a 120-day “Safe Harbor” period to resolve any issues with policies, procedures, and practices related to HRDC’s claims. The settlement agreement is available here.