By CLAUDIA LAUER Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit accusing Pennsylvania’s judicial system of violating federal law, saying several lower court judges had barred defendants from taking prescribed medication to treat Opioid Use Disorder while in drug treatment courts. The lawsuit filed Thursday comes weeks after attorneys from the Justice department’s Civil Rights Division sent a letter to the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. It said the system’s policies violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and cited at least three complaints from people forced off legal medications by courts in two Pennsylvania counties.