⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

Gerald Hopper says Mecklenburg County jail staff denied adequate care for his colostomy in twenty-twenty-two. A colostomy diverts bowel waste through an abdominal opening into a bag; Hopper needed one after a gunshot injury. He entered jail with reversal surgery already scheduled, but it never happened during his detention. He says repeated reports of pain and bleeding went inadequately treated for forty-eight days; the medical defendants say they provided appropriate care and surgery was not urgent. He sued the medical providers and Sheriff Garry McFadden. A federal judge ruled for the defendants on summary judgment, deciding that the evidence did not warrant a trial. Hopper asks the Fourth Circuit to restore his claims. The court's later Short versus Hartman decision changed the medical-care test for pretrial detainees: officials can be liable for risks of serious harm they should have known, not only risks they actually knew, but negligence alone is still insufficient. Hongye Zhang will argue first for Hopper.

Gerald Hopper v. Garry McFadden (No. 24-6050) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, argued September 17, 2026.