Sparkman v. McFarlin

Linda Kay Sparkman brought this damage action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that the defendants acted “in concert” to deprive her of her constitutional rights by sterilizing her without her knowledge or consent. Named as defendants were her mother, the mother’s attorney who drafted the petition to sterilize, the state court judge who approved the petition to have a tubal ligation performed, the three doctors who performed or assisted in the sterilization, and the hospital where the surgery was performed. The plaintiff and her husband also asserted pendent state claims for medical…