Estelle v. Gamble


Estelle v. Gamble

(es-tel′ gam′bĕl) A 1976 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court decided that federal, state, and local correctional facilities must provide inmates with medical care. The court decided that "deliberate indifference" to the medical needs of the incarcerated is a violation of the Eighth Amendment of the Bill of Rights because it constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment."