ACLU Fights Virginia Law Barring Prisoners from Obtaining Medical Information (1/19/2006)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org Prisoner Suffering from Hepatitis C Sues to Get Treatment Protocol BIG STONE GAP, VA -- With help from the American Civil Liberties Union of
Virginia and the Rutherford Institute, a prisoner suffering from Hepatitis C
today filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to overturn a Virginia statute
that prevents him from obtaining a copy of the Department of Corrections policy
describing how it is supposed to treat the disease.
Under a law passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1997, no person
incarcerated in a state, local or federal correctional facility may use the
Virginia Freedom of Information Act to obtain government documents.
“When it was introduced, we told legislators that this was a cruel,
mean-spirited piece of legislation that had the potential to cut prisoners off
from information essential to their survival behind bars,” said ACLU of Virginia
Executive Director Kent Willis. “With this case we can see exactly how that can
happen.”
The plaintiff, Joseph M. Giarratano, is an inmate at Red Onion State
Prison. He tried unsuccessfully to obtain copies of the department’s
Hepatitis C protocol to determine if he was receiving the treatment to which he
is entitled. The protocol documents are available to any non-incarcerated
person under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
“Here’s a man suffering from a potentially fatal disease that he contracted
while in prison, and he can’t find out if the treatment he is receiving even
complies with prison policy,” added Willis. “And if he can’t find out if he is
getting the treatment he is entitled to, he has no basis for challenging
inadequate treatment in court.”
The complaint was filed today in U.S. District Court in Big Stone Gap.
In legal papers, the ACLU and the Rutherford Institute argue that the Virginia
law violates the right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and
right to access the courts guaranteed by the First Amendment.
The lawyers for Giarratano are: Stephen D. Rosenfield, a cooperating attorney
for the ACLU of Virginia; Rebecca K. Glenberg, Legal Director of the ACLU of
Virginia; and R. Frazier Solsberry, a participating attorney for the Rutherford
Institute.
The complaint is available online at: www.aclu.org/prison/medichtml/23584lgl20060119.html
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