Lee was a pre-trial detainee in the Milwaukee County jail. When admitted to the jail in December 2020 (recall, this is the height of the COVID pandemic) he informed the screener that he suffered from a variety of mental health issues, including PTSD, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. During his time in the jail, he received virtually no mental health treatment, and the provider (Wellpath) asserted it did not provide long-term mental health treatment, just crisis intervention and medication management. After filing numerous grievances, Lee sued, alleging a violation of the 14th Amendment’s requirement that jails provide mental health treatment. The District Court entered summary judgment for the County, and the 7th Circuit affirmed.

The opinion breaks no new legal ground, but there are two points of interest:

First, the court soundly rejects the County’s position that under Monell it had to have notice of Wellpath’s failure to provide treatment. The court held that when it delegated medical care to Wellpath, the County in effect made Wellpath the “final decision maker” for the County. If Wellpath had a deficient policy, then so did the County.[H3.1]

Second, summary judgment was entered because the pro se plaintiff failed to provide virtually any evidence of the treatment he received before his incarceration, nor any details as to why his treatment at the jail was objectively deficient. The court emphasized that expert testimony is not always necessary (citing Jackson v. Sheriff of Winnebago County, 74 F.4th 496, 502 (7th Cir. 2023)); however, all Lee offered in this case was basically his own opinion that the care was not sufficient.

Interestingly, the court recognized how difficult it was for a pro se prisoner to gather this medical evidence but says nothing about the need to recruit counsel (perhaps because Lee never asked?).

There is also a discussion of other conditions, including long lockdowns and unsanitary conditions, but the court discounts those as (1) not that serious, and (2) reasonable given that jail officials were battling COVID.