Yes, the failure to provide adequate medical care violates a person’s constitutional rights. In Estelle v. Gamble, the United States Supreme Court explained that “deliberate indifference to serious medical needs constitutes the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain proscribed by the Eighth Amendment.” While the constitution requires that a jail or prison provide medical care to the people in its custody, the standard of care is often not what it should be. Because it is difficult for people to successfully challenge the care that they receive in prison, many people do not get the help that they need. The emotional toll that not getting adequate care takes on incarcerated people and their families is extremely severe.
One of the reasons that prisons continue to avoid accountability is the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). The PLRA placed requirements on incarcerated people before they can file a lawsuit related to treatment in prison. One of those requirements is that an incarcerated person must exhaust all administrative remedies by navigating through the maze of a correctional facility’s internal grievance procedures. Unfortunately, the internal administrative systems in prisons and jails are often extremely complicated and difficult to understand. The PLRA also caps the amount of fees that a lawyer can recover for representing incarcerated people in these types of lawsuits which makes it challenging for incarcerated people to find qualified lawyers to help them. As a result, many incarcerated people needlessly suffer from inadequate medical and mental health care while in custody. Our mission at McKenzie Scott is to expand access to justice for people whose rights are routinely violated. We recognize that incarcerated people are often the least powerful and most disenfranchised of anyone in our communities. If you have a loved one denied access to adequate medical care, reach out to our team so that we can help you explore your options.