No. 22-141

Michelle McDonald-Witherspoon, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Kenyada Jones v. Amber Browne, et al.

Lower Court: Third Circuit
Docketed: 2022-08-15
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: 14th-amendment 42-usc-1983 civil-rights disability due-process equal-protection mental-disability mental-health probation-officer section-1983
Key Terms:
DueProcess
Latest Conference: 2022-09-28
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a probation officer's actions violate the disabled person's rights under the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment, giving rise to a civil claim under 42 USC §1983

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED 1. Whether a probation officer with no medical or psychiatric training who is in charge of a mentally disabled (schizophrenic) person (who is out of jail on probation and who is waiting for his mother to arrive to take him for psychiatric treatment), and has that person arrested and returned to prison for the sole purpose of receiving psychiatric treatment in prison (thus preventing him from receiving treatment at a psychiatric hospital) based solely on the fact that he is mentally disabled (whereby he would not have been arrested and returned to jail if he were not mentally disabled), violates the disabled person’s rights under the Equal Protection clause of the 14 Amendment to the US Constitution giving rise to a civil claim under 42 USC §1983 when the disabled person dies in prison a few days later from a medication overdose due to the failure to receive competent mental health treatment at the prison (where he was placed in general population and given a month’s supply of medication to keep on his person in accordance with the prison’s policy), where it was foreseeable that the disabled person would not receive the treatment he needed in prison thus placing him in serious risk of harm.

Docket Entries

2022-10-03
Petition DENIED.
2022-08-31
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2022.
2022-08-31
Waiver of right of respondents Philadelphia Adult Parole and Probation Department (PAPPD) to respond filed.
2022-08-25
Waiver of right of respondents Amber Browne, et al. to respond filed.
2022-04-26
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 14, 2022)

Attorneys

Amber Browne, et al.
Jane Lovitch IstvanCity of Philadelphia Law Department, Respondent
Jane Lovitch IstvanCity of Philadelphia Law Department, Respondent
Michelle Mcdonald-Witherspoon, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Kenyada Jones
Stephen H. CristalCristal Law Firm LLC, Petitioner
Stephen H. CristalCristal Law Firm LLC, Petitioner
Philadelphia Adult Parole and Probation Department
Nicole Aileen FeigenbaumAdministrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, Respondent
Nicole Aileen FeigenbaumAdministrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, Respondent