lawsuit against unfair treatment in jail clinic? and unfair arrest.
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
lawsuit against unfair treatment in jail clinic? and unfair arrest.
husband has severe gun shot wounds to both legs and testicles. had court the day after he got of the hospital and i faxed a letter to his public defender excusing him from court. they came and arrested him today for failure to appear. he needs pain medication and antibiotics for his wounds and the jail clinic dosnt prvide them. and leg is not properly placed and needs bandages changed due to leaking from inside left thigh where a drain was.
Asked on May 8, 2009 under Criminal Law, Florida
Answers:
B. B., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 15 years ago | Contributor
I'm not sure what kind of letter you faxed to the public defender, or who wrote it, but only the court itself has the power to excuse your husband from appearing when scheduled. Unlike school or a job, a doctor's note isn't good enough all by itself.
While your husband is in jail, the jail has the obligation to provide him with adequate medical care. The word is "adequate," not "good," and it is up to the jail to decide, at the first level, what is necessary. Pain medication, in particular, tends to be a difficult subject, because many inmates try to get pain medication to get high.
However, if your husband does not get adequate medical care, that could be found to be cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of his civil rights. He could pursue that claim under 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983, a federal civil rights statute, and sue the jail in either the state or federal court.
Civil rights cases are very complicated, and it is almost impossible to succeed with one without a lawyer. You can find a lawyer at our website, http://attorneypages.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.