Nunes et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Correction et al., No. 13-2346 (1st Cir. Feb. 14, 2014) (Brief of Plaintiff-Appellants)

Plaintiffs brought this appeal seeking a reversal of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts’s entry of summary judgment for the defendants. At trial, the District Court found that a prison policy prohibiting inmates from self-administering their HIV medication—thus forcing them to stand in the medication line where their HIV status could possibly be revealed— neither constituted cruel and unusual punishment nor violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, or the inmates’ right to privacy. The appeal argues that the District Court inaccurately portrayed and mischaracterized the plaintiffs’ claims on substantially all counts, failed to address the evidence in support of the plaintiffs’ claims, and failed to conduct the correct standard of review. For these reasons, the plaintiffs request that the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reverse the judgment and remand the case back to the District Court.