Green et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Corrections et al. (2021)
Background: In 2021, after a year-long investigation, people incarcerated in Massachusetts filed two suits: Green et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Corrections, a state case against the DOC to stop using unconfirmed field tests on legal mail, and Green et al. v. Sirchie Acquisition Company, LLC, and Premier Biotech, Inc., a federal case against the drug test manufacturer.
The cases claim that the DOC screened attorney-client mail with color-change kits marketed to detect synthetic cannabinoids, which can be soaked into paper. However, according to the suits, the kits reacted to standard inks, adhesives, and paper coatings, creating frequent false positives that the DOC treated as proof. As a result, people were punished, fined, or sent to solitary confinement (widely considered torture), and their lawyers were accused of sending “drug-tainted” mail. This was especially harmful during COVID, when mail was often the only way to reach counsel.
Impact: A state judge issued a preliminary injunction that barred DOC from punishing anyone based on a field test unless a lab confirmed the result. DOC stopped using the Sirchie tests statewide in early 2022. In 2024, DOC settled and agreed to due-process safeguards and lab-confirmation rules across the system. The federal case against Sirchie and Premier continues; the court denied their motions to dismiss in 2022.
Media coverage:Boston Globe, Vice, and The Marshall Project
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