On November 21, 2007, three female inmates in South Dakota Women's Prison filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 in the U.S. District Court District of South Dakota, alleging that they were denied medication and treatment for their mental illnesses in violation of the Eighth and ...
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On November 21, 2007, three female inmates in South Dakota Women's Prison filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 in the U.S. District Court District of South Dakota, alleging that they were denied medication and treatment for their mental illnesses in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Plaintiffs alleged that they and other inmates were routinely denied medication that had been prescribed by their treating physicians on the orders of prison staff who were not doctors and not authorized to prescribe medication. Cost is alleged to have been one factor for the medication denial. Plaintiffs sought injunctive and declaratory relief, as well class certification.
On October 31, 2008, Judge Charles B. Kornmann granted the plaintiffs' motion for class certification. On Dec. 08, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit denied the defendants' appeal.
On April 04, 2011, the defendants moved to dismiss for failure to prosecute, which Judge Kornmann denied on June 10, 2011.
On April 17, 2012, Judge Kornmann approved the class action settlement and consent decree. The defendants agreed that no prescription medication or dosage will be substituted, changed, increased, reduced or discontinued except under the direction of a qualified physician or other person authorized by law to prescribe medications.
Dan Dalton - 11/30/2007
Jessica Kincaid - 11/17/2013
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