Students in Civil Rights Clinic to Argue Case in Appeals Court
On Monday, February 22, Benjamin Seibel ’16 and John Ludwig ’17 will argue their client’s appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Seibel and Ludwig are students in the Civil Rights Clinic working with Professor Betsy Ginsberg, and are representing a New York State prisoner suing officials in order to be provided necessary medical care.
The district court dismissed their client's case on the ground that he did not properly exhaust his internal administrative remedies before filing suit, as required under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. But, as the clinic pointed out and the state ultimately had to admit, the state’s argument on which the district court based its ruling was incorrect and in direct conflict with established Supreme Court law. The state is asking the Second Circuit to affirm the dismissal on alternative grounds. Seibel and Ludwig will try to convince the court to vacate the lower court’s decision and send the case back to the district court so that their client can have his case heard and receive the medical care he needs.