A federal judge has ruled an illegal immigrant who died of cancer can sue U.S. government officials for violating his constitutional rights. The case alleges government officials denied proper treatment to the man while he was detained in an Otay Mesa immigration lock up. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has details.
The judge wrote that if it is indeed true that government officials refused to biopsy the lesion on Castaneda’s penis, it is beyond cruel and unusual punishment.
The judge said further it would be one of the most, if not the most, egregious eighth amendment violations the court has ever seen.
Castaneda died of cancer last month.
Conal Doyle is an attorney on Castaneda’s case.
He says the decision defeats the government’s argument that public health service doctors are immune to prosecution under a federal statute passed 38 years ago.
Doyle : And this is the first reported decision in the country that makes this finding.
The government also faces a class action lawsuit that alleges inadequate access to medical care at San Diego’s immigration lock up has caused unnecessary suffering and death.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
