Women inmates in the District of Columbia (D.C.) correctional system alleged that they were being mistreated in a variety of ways, including sexual harassment, failure to provide or inadequate levels of obstetrical and gynecological care, unequal educational and work-related programming  as compared to similarly situated male inmates, uneven recreational and religious time, and general inhumane …Read more

Plaintiffs, Michael Sean Rizzo Sr. and Pamela Rizzo, filed this action against defendant physician Maurice Schiller, who they alleged breached the standard of care owed to them with his negligent and nonconsensual use of obstetrical forceps during Mrs. Rizzo’s delivery. Pamela Rizzo was admitted to Fairfax Hospital on November 7th at 9:00am in active labor. …Read more

Planned Parenthood brought suit challenging the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982 (the Act) in federal court on constitutional grounds. The Act included the following requirements for women seeking an abortion in Pennsylvania: A woman seeking an abortion must give her informed consent prior to the abortion procedure, and she must provide certain information at …Read more

The petitioner, David Riggins, challenged his criminal convictions on the basis that his liberty and right to due process of the law, as protected by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, were violated when the State of Nevada forcibly administered him with an antipsychotic drug during his trial. In November 1987, Riggins …Read more

The plaintiffs brought a class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and about 6,000 other homeless persons against the City of Miami, Florida. They claimed that by arresting and seizing the property of the plaintiffs, the City’s police officers violated the plaintiffs’ rights under the United States and Florida Constitutions. The plaintiffs claimed that it …Read more

The Appellants, a class of current and future employees of the Respondent’s battery manufacturing company, Johnson Controls, brought suit claiming that the company’s policy of barring fertile women from employment for reasons based on occupational safety, constituted sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the Act). The primary …Read more

In 1970, Congress enacted Title X of the Public Health Service Act (the Act), which provided federal funding for family planning services. Section 1008 of the Act prohibited the use of Title X federal funding “for programs where abortion [was] a method of family planning.” The Regulations to the Act (the Regulations), introduced by the …Read more

John Doe brought a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Agent Held alleging that they discriminated against him by ceasing to send agents to him for physical examinations because of his AIDS. John Doe was a physician who gave physical examinations to FBI agents and to potential agents in the hiring process. …Read more

The Appellants brought this challenge to the constitutionality of an Alabama statute which authorized the Alabama Department of Correction’s (DOC) policy of mandatory testing of all present and future Alabama state prisoners for HIV antibodies, as well as the forced segregation of HIV-positive inmates. Two classes were involved in the action: the Appellant class, which …Read more

The case discussed the limits of a medical facility’s liability for acts committed by an individual treated on an outpatient (loosely defined, an outpatient is a patient who visits a medical center for diagnosis or treatment, but does not stay overnight at the facility. Per contra, an inpatient is admitted for close monitoring of the …Read more

Petitioner, physician Michael Burditt, appealed a $20,000 civil penalty determination made by respondent, the Executive Appeals Board of Department of Health and Human Services, for the petitioner’s violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). On December 5, 1986 at 4:00pm, Ms. Rosa Rivera arrived at the emergency room of DeTar Hospital …Read more

In 1989, plaintiff’s decedent, Raymond Vadnais brought this suit against defendants, Dr. Vernick and Beth Israel, alleging discrimination in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Mr. Vadnais claimed that Dr. Vernick, an employee of the Beth Israel’s Ear Nose and Throat Clinic, refused to perform elective ear surgery on him because …Read more

The Appellants brought this case challenging an amendment to the Minors’ Consent to Health Services Act (the Act) on the basis that it violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Subdivision 2 of the Act provided, with certain exceptions, that no abortion shall be performed on a …Read more

In January 1983, Nancy Cruzan lost control of her car, which overturned. Found unconscious, she remained in a coma for three weeks, and eventually her condition progressed into what was termed a “persistent vegetative state,” where there are motor reflexes but no signs of cognition. She was able to survive when fed and hydrated artificially, …Read more

The Respondents, including a facility that provides abortions, a physician who performs abortions, and a minor woman who sought an abortion, brought suit challenging the constitutional validity of Ohio’s Amended Substitute House Bill 319, which made it a criminal offence, except in four specified circumstances, for a physician or other person to perform an abortion …Read more

Appellant Leckelt, a licensed practical nurse, was discharged by his hospital employer when he refused to provide the hospital with his HIV antibody test results. In his capacity as a nurse, Leckelt performed a number of functions, including administering medication orally and by injection, and working in the intensive care unit and the emergency room. …Read more

John Moore underwent treatment for hairy-cell leukemia at UCLA Medical Center, owned and operated by the regents of the university. During the course of his treatment, Moore’s spleen was removed and various tissue samples were taken by his doctor. Moore’s doctor engaged with a researcher at the medical center to study these samples (which were …Read more

The Appellants, Y.G. and L.G, husband and wife, brought this common law tort claim of an invasion of privacy. At the time of the incident, the wife, L.G., was five months pregnant, bearing triplets conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) at and under the guidance of the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis (the Hospital). The …Read more

Reproductive Health Services (RHS), a non-profit organization, brought this class action suit challenging the constitutionality of a Missouri law (the Act) regulating the performance of abortions. The Act did the following: Set forth, in the preamble, that the “life of each human being begins at conception,” and that “unborn children have protectable interests in life, …Read more

The Respondent, Arline, an elementary school teacher, brought suit against a local public school board alleging the school had violated § 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973  (the Act) when they dismissed Arline after she suffered a third relapse of tuberculosis in two years. The following statutory provisions were relevant to Arline’s complaint: …Read more

The Richmond Hill Insane Asylum in Grenada was bombed by military aircraft belonging to the United States in 1983. Petitioners, including Disabled Peoples’ International, presented the names of sixteen persons who were killed and six who were injured and claimed that the deaths and physical injuries of the mental patients were caused by purposeful armed …Read more

The Multnomah County Medical Society (the Medical Society) filed an action under § 552 of the Freedom of Information Act 1966 (FOIA) to compel James Scott, the deputy administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) tasked with the administration of the State Medicare program, to disclose the names and addresses of all Medicare beneficiaries …Read more

Plaintiffs, Toni Wideman and her husband, filed suit under 42 USCA Section 1983 which permits civil action for the deprivation of Constitutional rights, against defendants, DeKalb County, Shallowford Hospital, and three DeKalb County EMS employees in their official capacities, seeking damages for the wrongful death of their child. On April 12, 1984, Toni Wideman, who …Read more

Respondents, including Pennsylvania physicians, abortion counselors and providers, brought this challenge to provisions of Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act 1982 (the Act). The Act imposed the following conditions on the provision of abortion services in Pennsylvania: 1.     The informed consent provision (§ 3205) required women to be informed of: The name of the physician performing the …Read more

The Appellant, Ford, was convicted of murder in a Florida state court and sentenced to death in 1974. There was no suggestion that he was incompetent at the time of the offense, at trial, or at sentencing. However in 1982, Ford began to manifest gradual changes in behavior, which, based on a psychiatric examination, indicated …Read more

This case has been overruled by Lawrence v. Texas. The respondent, Hardwick, alleged that a Georgia state law prohibiting sodomy was unconstitutional. In 1982, the respondent was charged with violating a Georgia statute that prohibited sodomy after committing that act with another individual in the bedroom of the respondent’s home. The District Attorney later dropped …Read more

In response to increasing projected state Medicaid costs, the directors of the Tennessee Medicaid program decided to implement a number of cost saving measures. Among these measures was a proposed reduction in the number of annual days of inpatient hospital care covered by the program from 20 to 14 days per fiscal year. Respondents, Tennessee …Read more

The Respondents, Cleburne Living Center (CLC) and others, brought suit against the City of Cleburne (the City) and a number of its officials, alleging that a zoning ordinance, and its application, violated the equal protection rights of CLC and its potential residents. CLC intended to lease a building for the operation of a group home …Read more

Respondent, Lee, was charged with attempted robbery, malicious wounding, and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. The Commonwealth of Virginia sought to compel Respondent to undergo a surgical procedure to remove a bullet lodged in his chest; petitioners alleged that the bullet would provide evidence of Respondent’s guilt or …Read more

A group of African-American residents filed a class action lawsuit in Federal District Court against the City of Apopka, Florida (the “City”), which alleged that the City had violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the State and Local Assistance Act of 1972 …Read more