On March 9, 1999, plaintiff, a detainee who was an insulin-dependent diabetic, filed a lawsuit in New Jersey state court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and § 1981 against Camden County Correctional Facility(CCCF). Specifically, the plaintiff claimed that the defendants committed malpractice, that decision makers for Prison Health Services established a policy or well-settled custom of ignoring the medical needs of prisoners, and that the defendants violated plaintiff's right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution by denying him adequate medical care by failing to administer insulin during his first twenty-one hours of incarceration.

The case was removed to federal court. On July 26, 2000, the U.S. District Court of the District of New Jersey (Judge Joel A. Pisano) entered summary judgment for CCCF on detainee's § 1983 claim, and dismissed the § 1981 claim. On July 24, 2001, the District Court issued an order dismissing detainee's medical malpractice claim, and on July 30, 2001, the court granted Prison Health Service's motion for summary judgment on § 1983 claim. The detainee appealed. On March 21, 2003, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, finding that fact questions precluded summary judgment on the detainee's claim that his right to adequate medical care was violated, and as to whether the actions of private prison health service employees could be attributed to their employer. On August 17, 2004, the case was reopened. On November 4, 2005, the U.S. District Court (Judge Jerome B. Simandle) issued an order dismissing the case because the parties reached a settlement.

Julie Singer - 10/23/2014


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