Beach v. Grady, et al
| Opinion Filed | Pending |
| Attorney for the Case | John R. Taylor |
| Amicus Brief Writers | Jennifer Spyker Ben Winikoff |
| Court | 4th Circuit Court of Appeals |
| Docket No. | No. 25-2057 |
Eric Griffith died in the Harnett County Detention Center after being jailed for failure to pay a $320.00 fine. The lawsuit alleges that he was denied prompt and necessary medical care despite reporting drug withdrawals upon intake, his aunt and pastor relaying their concerns about drug withdrawals while detained, Mr. Griffith asking jailers for help with his withdrawals, allegedly obtaining and taking drugs smuggled in by a jail employee, and his cellmate requesting help when Mr. Griffith was experiencing an ultimately fatal medical emergency. Under these circumstances, medical care and monitoring were mandatory, including under the jail’s own policies. Defendants’ motion for summary judgment was denied as to all but one Defendant, and the remaining Defendants appealed to the Fourth Circuit.
NCAJ worked in conjunction with Disability Rights North Carolina to file an amicus brief in support of Plaintiff. As stated in the brief:
Amici curiae write to highlight medical literature on evidence-based medical treatment for withdrawal syndrome and North Carolina’s regulatory jail reforms, which—in addition to the clearly established case law cited in Plaintiff-Appellee’s Brief—demonstrate that prior to June 2021, no reasonable jail official could have been unaware of their constitutional obligations to provide the bare minimum, evidence-based medical care.
Defendants contend that their constitutional duties were not sufficiently established at the time of Mr. Griffith’s death. The amicus brief rebuts this contention with a detailed review of the medical, statistical, public health, and regulatory evidence which clearly establishes that the issues leading to Mr. Griffith’s death were well established long before he was detained. The illegality of refusing care to Mr. Griffith was well known, as were the potentially dire consequences of doing so.
