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31 Crim. Just. Pol'y Rev. 721 (2020)
Section 1983 Civil Liability against Prison Officials and Dentists for Delaying Dental Care

handle is hein.journals/cjpr31 and id is 708 raw text is: 

Article

                                                            Criminal Justice Policy Review
                                                               2020, Vol. 31(5) 721-745
Section        1983 Civil Liability                              ©TheAuthor(s)2019
                                                                Article reuse guidelines:
Against Prison             Officials and                  sagepub.com/journals-permissions
                                                          DOI: 10.1 177/0887403419860899
Dentists for Delaying                 Dental                journals.sagepub.com/home/cjp

Care                                                                   OSAGE




Claire   Angelique Nolasco'
and   Michael S. Vaughn2




Abstract
Many  prisoners enter correctional facilities in the United States with little history
of good  dental  hygiene and  even less history of access to  dentists. Thus, the
incarceration experience  presents opportunities  for inmates to  receive quality
dental care, often for the first time. Dental care delivered by correctional dentists is
complicated, however, by the array of serious dental conditions and difficult to treat
dental problems in clinical settings. These conditions exist within a legal environment
that mandates adequate dental care be provided to prisoners by the state. This article
examines  prisoners' Section 1983 lawsuits, claiming that delays in the delivery of
dental care violate inmates' federally guaranteed rights. The analysis focuses on what
the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals have required of correctional officials and dentists
in the form of dental care, concluding with nine best practices for correctional dental
practitioners to follow to avoid Section 1983 liability.


Keywords
prison dental care, prison health care, correctional health care, Section I 983 litigation,
civil liability


Inmates present particular problems to correctional dentistry because many enter con-
finement without a childhood or adult history of overall oral hygiene (Anno, 2001).
Racial and ethnic minority groups are overrepresented among the inmate population


'Texas A&M University-San Antonio, TX, USA
2Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
Corresponding Author:
Claire Angelique Nolasco, Criminology and Criminal Justice Program, Department of Social Sciences,
Texas A&M University-San Antonio, One University Way, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA.
Email: cnolasco@tamusa.edu

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