Ruling In Commonwealth v. Eldred

This ruling was issued on July 16, 2018, by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. In this case, the plaintiff alleged that requiring incarceration for failure to maintain sobriety as a condition of probation violates the individual’s Constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. The plaintiff argued that relapse is a common occurrence among people with addiction disorder, even while in an addiction treatment program; therefore, incarceration for violating the terms of probation due to a relapse constitutes incarceration for symptoms of the condition. However, based on the circumstances of this particular case, the court disagreed. The . . .