Goldman Ismail Defeats Certiorari Petition in U.S. Supreme Court

Goldman Ismail defeated a challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court to the Seventh Circuit’s landmark decision in favor of the firm’s pro bono client, Tyrone Petties, a former inmate at Stateville Correctional Center. In Petties v. Carter, 836 F.3d 722 (7th Cir. 2016), the Seventh Circuit reversed summary judgment on Mr. Petties’ claims alleging deliberate indifference to his serious medical condition, a completely ruptured Achilles tendon. The decision followed an extremely rare rehearing en banc on December 1, 2015. In its noteworthy opinion, the Court clarified the standard for deliberate indifference under the Eighth Amendment and held that “even if a doctor denies knowing that he was exposing a plaintiff to a substantial risk of serious harm, evidence from which a reasonable jury could infer a doctor knew he was providing deficient treatment is sufficient to survive summary judgment.” Id. at 26. The Court also definitively held that "qualified immunity does not apply to private medical personnel in prisons." Id. at 734. Defendants filed a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking reversal of the Seventh Circuit’s ruling on  November 21, 2016. The petition is available here. Goldman Ismail filed its opposition to the petition (available here) on March 6, 2017. The Court denied the petition in a summary order (available here) on April 17, 2017. Mr. Petties is represented by Rami Fakhouri, who is continuing the representation before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.