Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP recently secured a significant appellate victory on behalf of a North Carolina man who claims authorities forced him to live in unsanitary conditions during his time as a pretrial detainee, causing him to contract a severe bacterial illness.

On July 22, 2024, in a unanimous, published decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit revived Kenneth Ray Jenkins’ lawsuit, which alleges detention center staff in Wilson County, North Carolina were indifferent to the deplorable conditions of his jail cell and ignored his pleas for medical attention.

Hunton Andrews Kurth appeals associate J. Pierce Lamberson presented the winning arguments to the Fourth Circuit, which appointed him to represent Jenkins in the appeal.

Jenkins, who suffers from bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety disorder, claims that jail officials refused to provide his daily medication, leading to a confrontation that resulted in him being placed in solitary confinement. Following a suicide attempt, Jenkins was transferred to a padded room, which he says was infested with human waste.

According to Jenkins, he was routinely fed from the floor of the fetid and foul padded room and forced to eat with his hands, which he was not allowed to wash. Sometime after he was released from the padded room, Jenkins says he began experiencing extreme pain and rectal bleeding and asked for medical treatment.

After having his requests ignored for three months, Jenkins claims he was finally permitted to see a doctor, who diagnosed him with three colon polyps, a bacterial infection in his stomach, diverticulitis and hemorrhoids.

Jenkins originally sued Wilson County in 2019, asserting Fourteenth Amendment violations and claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Representing himself pro se and coping with mental illness, Jenkins struggled to navigate the federal judicial system. Despite several requests, the district court denied Jenkins’ motions for appointment of counsel and for additional time to conduct discovery. The district court ultimately dismissed the case, granting summary judgment in favor of Wilson County.

On appeal, Jenkins challenged the denials of his requests for additional time to conduct discovery and for assistance of counsel. The appeal also presented a jurisdictional question regarding the appealability of orders not specifically listed on a notice of appeal. 

In its decision, the Fourth Circuit affirmed appellate jurisdiction, reversed the denials of requests for counsel and discovery, vacated the adverse summary judgment decision, and remanded with instructions to appoint counsel so that Jenkins can further develop his case in the district court.

Notably, the decision marks the first time in 40 years that the Fourth Circuit has revisited in a published decision the “exceptional circumstances” test governing when a litigant is entitled to an attorney in a civil case. The Fourth Circuit also squarely endorsed the “merger rule” for notices of appeal for the first time since the 2021 revisions to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 3.