Justice Department Secures Agreement with Pennsylvania Courts to Resolve Lawsuit Concerning Discrimination Against People with Opioid Use Disorder

The Justice Department announced today that it has secured an agreement with the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania (UJS) to resolve allegations that UJS courts violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by preventing individuals under court supervision from taking lawfully prescribed medication to treat opioid use disorder (OUD).

Under the agreement, UJS courts will pay $100,000 to victims, and encourage all its component courts to adopt new policies and train personnel on the ADA’s anti-discrimination requirements regarding OUD and report on their compliance efforts. 

“People with opioid use disorder caught up in the criminal justice system should be supported in seeking treatments that can help them attain recovery,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Under this agreement, courts that categorically restricted the use of opioid treatment medication are required to allow people with opioid use disorder to take proven medications that can put them on a path toward recovery and rehabilitation. Ensuring that courts are employing science-driven and data-informed approaches to the opioid crisis is an important priority for the Civil Rights Division. We will continue to enforce our federal civil rights laws, including the ADA, to ensure that people with disabilities are protected from discrimination.”

“My office is dedicated to fighting the opioid epidemic with every tool that we have,” said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “That includes enforcing the ADA to remove discriminatory barriers to treatment for OUD. All too often, people taking medication to treat their OUD are subjected to discrimination based on unfounded stigma associated with these medications. It is a violation of the ADA to deny someone access to programs and services simply because they are taking medication their doctors have prescribed to get and keep their OUD in remission. My office will hold entities that violate the ADA’s anti-discrimination protections accountable.”

“The battle against the opioid epidemic requires not only the vigorous prosecution of those who traffic in and profit from drugs like heroin and fentanyl, but also requires ensuring individuals with opioid use disorder can take their medically prescribed treatment,” said U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. “This agreement with the Commonwealth will help ensure that individuals participating in Pennsylvania’s courts who have opioid use disorder will be allowed to follow their providers’ course of treatment, which may include medication that dramatically reduces opioid overdose deaths. This office will enforce the ADA to protect all individuals with disabilities, and this includes our citizens in recovery from addiction.”

The settlement agreement resolves the department’s lawsuit against the UJS, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and Blair, Jefferson, Lackawanna and Northumberland County Courts of Common Pleas. The department’s complaint, filed in 2022, alleged that UJS courts in multiple counties caused significant harm through the enforcement of their discriminatory administrative policies. The department further alleged that those affected by the UJS court policies were put to an agonizing choice: take their medication and face incarceration or termination from their treatment court program or forgo their medication and suffer painful withdrawal symptoms while risking relapse, overdose and death. As a result, they suffered significant harm. The complaint alleged that the named county courts and other UJS courts had likely harmed many other individuals with OUD through the enforcement of their discriminatory policies.

Under the settlement agreement, the UJS courts will compensate the victims identified in the complaint. They will train all Pennsylvania state court criminal judges and treatment court professionals on the ADA and OUD medication. Several of the named county courts will adopt a robust anti-discrimination policy related to OUD medication. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts will recommend and encourage all other county courts to adopt the same policy. Finally, the UJS courts will report on their efforts to comply with the agreement, including detailing any complaints about access to OUD medication submitted to any UJS courts during the agreement’s two-year term.

The settlement agreement announced today advances the Justice Department’s efforts to combat discrimination against individuals with OUD and to remove discriminatory barriers to treatment. The department has issued public guidance and filed statements of interest on the ADA’s protections for those with OUD. It has entered into multiple settlements with jails and prisons to increase access to OUD medication, including recent agreements in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; Eastern Kentucky and Massachusetts. It has undertaken enforcement efforts to combat discrimination against individuals with OUD in court supervision programs in Massachusetts. It has also entered numerous settlements to address discriminatory barriers to treatment for OUD outside of the criminal justice context, including barriers related to employment, professional licensing, social services and healthcare.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division handled this matter in collaboration with the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania.

The Justice Department plays a central role in advancing the nation’s goal of equal opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities. For more information about the Justice Department’s work to address discrimination against individuals with opioid use disorder, please visit www.ada.gov/topics/opioid-use-disorder/. For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit ada.gov. Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at civilrights.justice.gov/report.