Di Fraia v. Ransom: Date Argued: January 27th, 2026; Docket Number: 24-2673

Case Summary:In Di Fraia v. Ransom, Jonathan DiFraia is appealing from the dismissal of his federal civil-rights and disability-discrimination suit arising out of the termination of his medication for opioid use disorder while incarcerated in a Pennsylvania state facility, with the appeal now pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit under docket number 24‑2673 and argued on January 27, 2026.At the district court level, DiFraia filed suit in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, case number 1:23‑cv‑01187, against prison officials including Kevin Ransom, alleging that prison staff stopped his medically prescribed medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) based solely on disciplinary infractions rather than medical need, causing painful withdrawal and deterioration of his mental and physical health. He asserted claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Eighth Amendment, contending that cutting off this treatment for a person with opioid use disorder constituted disability discrimination and cruel and unusual punishment. The district court dismissed his complaint, including on the ground that he sued the individual defendants only in their personal capacities and, as described by his advocates, without fully engaging the substance of his ADA and Eighth Amendment theories, thereby entering a final order against him from which he took an appeal.In the present court, the Third Circuit (docket 24‑2673), DiFraia is the appellant challenging that final dismissal, arguing in his opening brief that the lower court misapplied the ADA and Eighth Amendment standards and wrongly refused to allow his claims to proceed. The case was scheduled for and did have oral argument on January 27, 2026, in the Third Circuit, where the panel heard argument in “Jonathan DiFraia v. Kevin Ransom, et al.” under that docket number.