“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky, House of the Dead
Having a family member suffer while in prison or jail can be one of the worst experiences you can endure. That’s why Paula Greisen and Scott Medlock have spent their careers bringing innovative lawsuits to protect the rights of prisoners and improve prison and jail conditions. Our lawyers are dedicated to advocating for and protecting the rights of prisoners and formerly incarcerated people.
Through their careers, Paula Greisen and Scott Medlock have represented prisoners and their families in cases involving civil rights violations, religious liberties, prison censorship, excessive force, false imprisonment, jail suicides, false arrest, inadequate health care or medical treatment, wrongful death, and race, disability, and gender discrimination.
Paula Greisen was lead counsel on a groundbreaking class action lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Corrections to ensure the prison system complied with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Over many years, Paula Greisen was constantly in the courtroom to force the CDOC to make its prisons accessible to inmates with disabilities.
Scott Medlock was an architect of class action litigation against the Texas prison system to require Texas to provide air conditioning in a “geriatric prison” where summer temperatures regularly exceeded 100 indoors. Scott Medlock’s lawsuits resulted in air conditioning being installed in two Texas prisons, and some of the largest damage awards ever paid by the State of Texas to the families of prisoners who died of heatstroke.
Scott Medlock also brought an important class action lawsuit against the Texas prison system, requiring Texas prisons to provide Hepatitis C treatment to prisoners infected with the virus. The settlement in this case required Texas to provide treatment for all prisoners suffering from this life-threatening illness within five years.
Now, Greisen Medlock represents transgender women in Colorado prisons in a class action lawsuit because the Colorado prisons routinely allow our clients to be raped, deny them medical treatment, and refuse transgender women the opportunity to live as their authentic selves.
Paula Greisen and Scott Medlock have sued numerous prisons and jails on behalf of inmates and their families. When prisoners die of suicide in county jails, Paula Greisen and Scott Medlock have won large awards for their families. In a case where a severely disabled prisoner was denied medical care, Scott Medlock won one of the largest jury verdicts in the Texas Panhandle in decades.
