On September 29, 2003, plaintiffs, proceeding pro se, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against prison officials alleging violations of their civil rights by failing to provide adequate bladder care and treatment, such as proper use of disposable catheters, properly sterilized catheters, and access to urologists.

The plaintiffs, who were paraplegic, alleged that the defendants failed to provide adequate medical care in violation their rights under the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments, and that the defendants unlawfully discriminated against plaintiffs by failing to construct wheelchair-amenable cells and failing to provide recreational activities, in violation of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Plaintiffs sought money damages and injunctive relief.

By the time the amended complaint had been filed, all plaintiffs had been transferred to facilities in the Western District of New York. Judge Batts considered and denied the defendants' motion to dismiss the case for improper venue but, in her unpublished order of August 26, 2005, she granted the defendants' motion to transfer venue to the Western District of New York.

Under the new case number 05-cv-6504, the case was reassigned to Judge Siragusa. On December 14, 2005, Judge Siragusa granted a temporary restraining order directing the defendants to supply plaintiffs with six new single-use catheters per day. This was lifted on September 15, 2006, and Judge Siragusa ordered the defendants to instead supply the plaintiffs with soap and water sufficient for cleaning catheters after reuse. On May 29, 2007, plaintiffs filed the third and final amended complaint.

On May 31, 2013, Judge Siragusa approved a joint stipulation that an expert visit the correctional facilities to review the conditions raised by plaintiffs. The expert was supposed to report back by August 16, 2013, but no reports appear in the docket as of February 23, 2014.

Jessica Kincaid - 03/02/2014


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