A Virginia law that allows the state to jail “habitual drunkards” who possess alcohol is unconstitutional, a full panel of the Fourth Circuit held July 16.
The Eighth Amendment can’t tolerate “the targeted criminalization of otherwise legal behavior that is an involuntary manifestation of an illness,” Judges Diana Gribbon Motz and Barbara Milano Keenan wrote for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. They were joined by six other judges.
The ruling overturned a three-judge panel’s August 2018 ruling that found the lower court properly dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim.
Homeless alcoholics filed the ...
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