Joshua Howard v. William Pollard

The pro se plaintiffs in this case — a group of inmates at the Waupun Correctional Institution in Wisconsin — brought this federal action against the governor of Wisconsin, the prison warden, and roughly 30 other persons. They alleged (among other things) that the defendants were violating the Eighth Amendment by providing inadequate mental-health services and by permitting overcrowding at Wisconsin’s prisons. The plaintiffs filed a motion for class certification, which the district court denied on the ground that, because they were proceeding pro se, the plaintiffs could not adequately…