Face it, a “Bivens” action for the violation of a constitutional right is just hard. There are so many pitfalls, so many ways to lose. What looks like the clearest case of “deliberate indifference” to you looks like negligence to the judge.

The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) 28 USC 2671 provides a simplified method of getting a remedy for the failure to provide timely, competent, adequate medical and dental care. FTCA claims require only proof of negligence. You do not have to prove intentional misconduct or “deliberate indifference.”

We are willing to do the paperwork. Think you don’t have the money? Hold that thought, contact us anyway. Let us get the facts and decide if this is something we can work with.

Here’s the key. If you can get an expert to testify in your behalf, you will almost always be able to get a settlement. Sure, that’s expensive. Its really expensive unless you do it in bulk. In bulk, you might be surprised at how affordable an expert can be. If you do it in bulk, you can and should line up at least 3 or 4 experts. That way if one is impeached, the rest of them can carry the load.

Once again, there is power in numbers. If 90% of the hepatitis-c cases in a prison file a tort claim, you’re all probably going to get a payout. The expert testifies in deposition, and remains available for trial. The government doesn’t want a trial exposing all the theft of money designated for inmate health care. The government can’t win on summary judgment, so they settle for a fair and reasonable amount. If you can do it once, you can do it nearly every time.

Same thing for the other major issues in federal prison. Inmates get their teeth shelled out by the buckets full, to enrich thieves with their hands in the till. If you make it clear that in your prison, routine dental work is done within 30 days, or a tort claim will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, you’ll have a brand new paradigm.