A sentence of incarceration should not be a sentence of ill health. As the U.S. Supreme Court explained over 45 years ago, the “denial of medical care may result in pain and suffering which no suggests would serve any penological purpose. The infliction of such unnecessary suffering is inconsistent with contemporary standards of decency.” See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 103 (1976).

Incarcerated people have a long-established right to health care through the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The Americans with Disabilities Act also provides protection for incarcerated people with long-term medical conditions. Unfortunately, sometimes those rights are more theoretical than actual for those who are incarcerated.