⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Eleventh Circuit returns to Ricky Johnson's civil-rights case over delayed hepatitis C treatment in Georgia prisons. His suit alleged deliberate indifference, an Eighth Amendment violation in which a prison official knows of and disregards a serious medical risk. After trial, a jury awarded Johnson twenty thousand and one dollars against two defendants. The Prison Litigation Reform Act then limited the attorney's fees recoverable from those defendants and required Johnson to contribute part of his damages. He will ask the court to reconsider circuit precedent and hold that the fee cap's different treatment of prisoner plaintiffs violates equal protection, the constitutional rule against unjustified unequal treatment. Before reaching that issue, the court must decide whether he preserved the challenge and appealed on time.

Ricky Johnson v. Turner (No. 24-11799) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, argued August 11, 2026.