AN EPIDEMIC OF INDIFFERENCE -

“About the same you’d get with a paper cut…I don’t see little cuts.”

“He’s going to get out in a couple days. He can go see his own doctor.”

“He looked like any seg inmate.”

This is testimony from three state-actors regarding inmates with serious medical or mental health needs. The testimony came in cases handled by the Civil Rights and Police Misconduct Group at Robins Kaplan LLP. Robins Kaplan is conducting numerous lawsuits and investigations to enforce the government’s obligation to provide medical care for those it punishes by incarceration. Prison and jail officials have a constitutional duty via the Eighth Amendment to “ensure that inmates receive adequate food, clothing, shelter, and medical care.” Liability attaches when state actors are deliberately indifferent to these needs. It is an exacting standard requiring proof of a state of mind beyond negligence.