A week ago Linda Greenhouse wrote Sonia Sotomayor's Last Laugh about her time on the court so far and specifically her dissent in denial of cetiorari in Pitre v. Cain.
"‘To be sure,’ she wrote, ‘Pitre’s decision to refuse medication may have been foolish and likely caused a significant part of his pain.’ But she noted that the Supreme Court’s precedents give people a constitutional right to refuse unwanted medical treatment. She added that while the court has never addressed whether this principle applies to prisoners with H.I.V., the prisoner’s behavior in this case ‘does not give prison officials license to exacerbate Pitre’s condition further as a means of punishing or coercing him.’
Justice Sotomayor wrote in conclusion that the prisoner had presented a substantial question of whether his treatment amounted to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. ‘I cannot comprehend how a court could deem such allegations ‘frivolous,’’ she said."
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