Smith v. Aroostook County ( 2019 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 19-1340
BRENDA SMITH
Plaintiff, Appellee,
v.
AROOSTOOK COUNTY; SHAWN D. GILLEN, in his official
capacity as Sheriff of Aroostook County
Defendants, Appellants.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE
[Hon. Nancy Torresen, Chief U.S. District Judge]
Before
Howard, Chief Judge,
Lynch and Kayatta, Circuit Judges.
Peter T. Marchesi, Cassandra S. Shaffer, and Wheeler & Arey,
P.A., on brief for appellants.
Zachary L. Heiden, Emma E. Bond, ACLU of Maine Foundation,
Peter Mancuso, Andrew Schmidt Law PLLC, David A. Soley, James G.
Monteleone, and Bernstein Shur, on brief for appellees.
April 30, 2019
Per curiam. In considering the defendants' appeal of
a preliminary injunction entered by the district court, we will
set aside the ruling only if the court clearly erred in assessing
the facts, misapprehended the applicable legal principles, or
otherwise is shown to have abused its discretion. See Wine and
Spirits Retailers, Inc. v. Rhode Island, 418 F.3d 36, 46 (1st Cir.
2005).
Brenda Smith receives a twice daily dose of buprenorphine
prescribed by her doctor as treatment for what her doctor
classifies as an opioid use disorder. Smith is due to be
incarcerated for forty days at the Aroostook County Jail. Jail
officials informed her counsel that she would not receive her
medication while incarcerated. Her physician opines without serious
contradiction that prior efforts to take Smith off her medication
have not been successful and that her medication is necessary
to her continued health; he and other witnesses opine that, given
her medical history, forced and immediate withdrawal from
buprenorphine will cause her painful symptoms and increase her
risk of relapse, overdose, and death. She therefore brought this
suit seeking, among other things, injunctive relief compelling the
defendants to provide her medication while she is incarcerated.
Defendants replied, in part, that whether she receives the medication
will depend on a case-by-case medical assessment. Defendants,
though, do not actually plan to obtain such an assessment from a
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qualified doctor prior to incarcerating Smith.
On this preliminary record, the district court considered
the likelihood of Smith prevailing on a claim for discrimination
under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
42 U.S.C. § 12132; the potential for irreparable harm; the
balance of harms; and the public interest. Noting that
defendants' own submissions tout the variety of reasonable
alternatives at their disposal for providing Smith with her
medication in a manner that alleviates any security concerns, the
district court found a sufficient likelihood of success combined
with both a strong balance of harms and a public interest in favor
of Smith so as to warrant a preliminary injunction ordering the
jail to provide Smith with her medication as prescribed while she
is incarcerated.
We previously denied the defendants' request for a stay
of the district court's order. Now we address the merits of the
defendants' appeal of that order.
Having carefully considered the record and the parties'
briefs, we find no abuse of discretion by the district court in
its preliminary assessment of the issues that must be balanced in
deciding a request for preliminary injunctive relief.
The preliminary injunction is affirmed. The motions of
the American Medical Association, American Society for Addiction
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Medicine, Maine Medical Association, Connecticut Society for
Addiction Medicine, Connecticut State Medical Society, Maine
Association of Psychiatric Physicians, Massachusetts Medical
Society, Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine, New Hampshire
Medical Society, Northern New England Society for Addiction
Medicine, Rhode Island Medical Society, Rhode Island Society for
Addiction Medicine, Vermont Medical Society, Joshua M. Sharfstein,
Brendan Saloner, Colleen Barry, Noa Krawczyk, Jenny Wen, and Jia
Ahmad for leave to file amicus briefs on behalf of Smith are denied
as moot.
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