Overview
Maney v. Brown (U.S. District Court, District of Oregon, February 2, 2021): A federal district court in Oregon ruled that Oregon’s Adults in Custody (AIC) must be offered COVID-19 vaccines at the earliest date for eligibility in Phase 1A, Group 2 of Oregon’s Vaccination Plan. Oregon inmates represented by the Oregon Justice Resource Center alleged that the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) violated the 8th Amendment by offering the COVID-19 vaccine to individuals working in correctional settings and individuals living and working in congregate care settings, while deciding not to offer the vaccine to AIC. The court found that by prioritizing these other groups over AICs, ODOC demonstrated there was a sufficient COVID-19 vaccine available and acted with deliberate indifference to the serious risk of harm faced by AICs, in violation of the 8th Amendment. Read the decision here.
View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – April 15, 2021.
View all cases under “Mitigating The Incidence & Severity of Injuries & Other Harms.”