Green et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Corrections et al. (2021)
After a year-long investigation by JCL, in 2021, people incarcerated in Massachusetts, represented by Justice Catalyst Law and BraunHagey Borden, filed two lawsuits, one in Massachusetts state court against the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) and one in federal court against Sirchie Acquisition Company, LLC (Sirchie), and Premier Biotech, Inc. (Premier), seeking to stop the DOC’s use of a defective and faulty drug test on attorney-client privileged mail and seeking damages and injunctive relief under Massachusetts’ Consumer Protection Act, Section 93A, from the defective tests manufactured and sold by Sirchie and Premier. DOC used these faulty tests on legal mail sent into DOC facilities for years, including during the pandemic when mail was frequently the only means for attorneys to communicate with their clients. After plaintiffs secured a preliminary injunction from the state court barring the DOC from punishing any person based on a field drug test result until a confirmatory lab test was secured, DOC settled the case in late 2024, agreeing to change its policies statewide, implementing due process and other laboratory confirmation requirements, and abandoning the use of the disputed Sirchie tests statewide in early 2022. The federal case continues in litigation with the federal court rejecting Sirchie’s and Premier’s motions to dismiss in 2022. News about the lawsuit was recently featured in the Boston Globe, Vice, and The Marshall Project.” Green et al. v. Massachusetts Dept. of Corrections et al., Case No. 2184CV02283 (Suffolk Superior Court); Green et al. v. Sirchie Acquisitions et al, Case No. 1:21-cv-11504-GAO (JDH)(D. Mass. 2021).
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