A lawsuit against George W. Hill Correctional Facility on behalf of a man who is being denied adequate treatment for his opioid use disorder (OUD). Shawn Strickland, 40, who has been diagnosed with OUD, was detained at George W. Hill Correctional Facility on August 6, 2021. Since then, the jail has refused to provide him his lifesaving prescribed methadone, a medication for opioid use disorder, which he has been on since 2010, even though the jail routinely provides this medication to pregnant people.
UPDATE
December 2023
In a statement of interest re: Strickland v Delaware County, the U.S. Department of Justice said that people in prison are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act and, therefore, have a right to medically necessary medications, including those used to treat opioid addiction.
PILP filed a legal brief and statement of facts on behalf of Shaun Strickland, in response to the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, asserting that there was ample evidence showing that Mr. Strickland’s constitutional and federal civil rights were violated, and that the medical care fell below the standard of care.
April 2022
PILP received a favorable opinion from the Court denying the Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss. As a result of this Opinion, we will proceed to the next phase of litigation. Of particular interest is where the Court noted that the Plaintiff “asked for medically accepted treatment and was denied pursuant to an official policy” and “ properly alleged a constitutional violation traceable to Delaware County and the GEO Group.”