Upson v. Wilson

In this appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the NYCLU represents Jamel Upson in his claim that prison staff violated his Eighth Amendment rights by denying him treatment during a life-threatening medical emergency.

In 2015, Mr. Upson experienced a life-threatening bowel obstruction — his fourth in three years. This case arises from Mr. Upson’s claim that during over a day leading to his eventual hospitalization, two prison nurses dismissed his dire condition, refusing his repeated pleas for help.

In 2022, the lower court granted summary judgment against Mr. Upson, concluding that no reasonable jury could find that the defendant nurses violated Mr. Upson’s Eighth Amendment rights, and that the nurses were therefore entitled to judgment in their favor as a matter of law.

On appeal, Mr. Upson argues the district court erred in granting summary judgment because Mr. Upson had presented evidence from which a jury could have found that each nurse acted with deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment.