On August 15, 1988, inmates brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut challenging the policies and practices of the Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC) pertaining to the care, custody and confidentiality issues of inmates with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), AIDS-Related Complex (ARC) or other Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections. The inmates were represented by attorneys from the Legal Services Organization at Yale Law School, the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union Foundation, and the Center for Children's Advocacy, Inc.
The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Judge Peter Dorsey) certified the plaintiff class on February 10, 1989. The class consisted of all persons who were at any time since August 15, 1985, or would in the future be subject to the care and custody of the DOC, but excluding the individuals in the class certified in Smith v. Meachum, Civ. No. H87-221 (case no. PC-CT-008). The plaintiffs sought interim relief on their claims relating to deficiencies in the provision of information about HIV infection to the inmate population and inadequate counseling of inmates regarding the results of HIV-related tests.
A consent judgment was filed on November 2, 1990, regarding health care for HIV-infected inmates and the confidentiality of HIV-related information. These provisions included sections on intake and assessment, delivery of routine health services, access to medical care for acute illnesses, drug therapies, health care records, prescription and administration of medications, emergency kits, diet, mental health care, dental care, eye care and additional criteria for HIV-infected women, discharge planning, housing of symptomatic HIV-infected inmates, staff education, staffing, quality assurance, confidentiality and monitoring. An Agreement Monitoring Panel (AMP) was to be established to monitor compliance with the Judgment. The AMP was to provide monitoring reports, and the DOC was also required to submit written compliance reports.
United States Magistrate Joan Margolis approved the Consent Judgment, and notice was given to interested parties. United States District Judge Jose Cabranes issued an order on December 6, 1990 approving the Consent Judgment.
The docket begins with a 1988 order referring the case to Magistrate Joan Margolis, signed by Judge Jose A. Cabranes, and skips ahead nearly three years to a Motion by plaintiffs filed on August 5, 1991 for injunctive relief and enforcement of judgment. The docket indicates that several compliance reports and AMP reports were filed between 1991 and 1993.
According to the docket, on October 7, 1993, an Order by Judge Jose A. Cabranes was issued stating that in accordance with colloquy with counsel on the record in open court at a hearing on October 4, 1993, the case was to be closed by October 18, 1993 if no objection was received. On April 26, 1994, Judge Cabranes issued an Order of Dismissal, and the case was closed.
The next entry on the docket indicated that a letter was sent to the court by plaintiffs on May 2, 1994, and on May 6, 1994, the court modified the Order of Dismissal such that the action should remain under the court's active supervision with respect to monitoring the defendants' compliance with the Consent Judgments.
On November 19, 1998, the case was reassigned to Judge Christopher Droney. Monitoring continued, and status conferences were held periodically. On January 29, 2001, Judge Droney issued an order giving consent to trial before Magistrate Judge Margolis. Several other status conferences were held, and the last item on the docket is a February 24, 2003 Order directing the State of Connecticut to reimburse Plaintiffs' counsel for services rendered from May 2000 through February 2003.
The docket's last entry is September 14, 2006.
There are nine short reported decisions available on Westlaw from 1988 and 1989 regarding various procedural issues in the case. Judge Cabranes's Order approving the Consent Judgment dated November 2, 1990 is also available on Westlaw. In re Connecticut Prison Overcrowding and AIDS Cases, 1990 WL 261348 (D.Conn., Nov. 2, 1990).
Kristen Sagar - 06/24/2007
compress summary
