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Defenses: Qualified Immunity

    An inmate claimed that officials violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by improperly censoring and confiscating his mail. The trial court failed to issue a ruling as to whether an official was entitled to qualified immunity. When a defendant official properly and timely files a motion for dismissal or for summary judgment asserting qualified immunity as a defense, they are entitled to a reviewable order either granting or denying qualified immunity before being required to progress further in the litigation. The trial court was ordered to issue such a ruling. Payne v. Britten, #12-3872, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 7055 (8th Cir.).

Negligent or Inadequate Hiring, Supervision, Retention & Training

****Editor's Case Alert****

     A pretrial detainee claimed that he was attacked by other inmates after a several-minute long verbal fight in the presence of corrections officers. His lawsuit asserted federal civil rights claims against the county and policymakers for failure to properly train the officers. A federal appeals court found that there were genuine issues of material fact as to whether the defendants exhibited deliberate indifference to the need for pre-service training of officers in conflict de-escalation and the issue of whether the lack of such training helped cause the plaintiff's injuries. A reasonable jury could, based on the evidence, find in favor of the plaintiff who presented evidence that similar fights regularly occurred in the prison, and that the failure to provide the training at issue did not align with prevailing standards and was a careless and dangerous practice. Thomas v. Cumberland County, #12-3959, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 6668 (3rd Cir.).

Prisoner Assault: By Inmates

     A pretrial detainee in a county jail was murdered by another pretrial detainee with mental problems. In a lawsuit seeking to hold the sheriff individually liable, he was entitled to qualified immunity. Even if the plaintiffs were assumed to have established that the sheriff violated the decedent's constitutional rights by failing to adequately train the detention officers regarding the movement of mentally ill detainees, they did not establish that this violated clearly established law. It was also not clearly established that failing to segregate inmates with mental health issues violated the decedent's constitutional rights. There was also no evidence that the sheriff was on notice about alleged violations of jail policy. Keith v. DeKalb County, Georgia, #13-11250, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 7617, 24 Fla. L. Weekly C 1280 (11th Cir.).

     A federal prisoner served as an informant in an investigation of a prison officer who he claimed coerced him into sexual relations. He wore a wire, and the officer resigned because of the investigation. He was promised that he would be kept safe and be transferred to a lower security facility, which he was for several months. He was then, however, transferred to a high-security facility, and the federal Bureau of Prisons allegedly failed to use confidential correspondence channels in addressing his grievance against this, as a result of which prison staff learned of his role as an informant against the officer. Within hours, he allegedly was placed in a cell with two known sex offenders, who severely beat and assaulted him, resulting in injuries requiring hospitalization. He was later transferred to a state facility for his protection. A lawsuit he filed against the Bureau of Prisons seeking injunctive relief was improperly dismissed as moot. The defendants had not met the heavy burden of showing "that it is absolutely clear the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur," or that the alleged deliberate indifference to his safety had been unambiguously terminated, since he might be returned to a high security federal facility. Doe v. Wooten, #13-10280, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 6395, 24 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 1242 (11th Cir.).

     A prisoner allegedly approached a sergeant and told him that his cellmate of one week had twice swung at him, that he wasn't taking his medication, and that he was hearing voices telling him to attack people. Accordingly, the prisoner asked that his cellmate be moved. The sergeant instructed another officer to try to make sure that the cellmate took his mediation. He also asked other officers about the cellmate, but none indicated knowing of any problems with him. The next evening, the cellmate attacked the prisoner, damaging one of his teeth. A nurse recommended that the tooth be removed, but the prisoner did not see a dentist for approximately a month. Summary judgment for the defendants was upheld, with the appeals court finding no evidence that the sergeant was subjectively aware that the cellmate was dangerous or that staff members failed to act promptly once they were aware of the prisoner's serious medical needs. The prisoner never filled out the proper request to see a dentist or indicated that he had a medical emergency. Olson v. Morgan, #12-2786, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 8188 (7th Cir.).

Prisoner Assault: By Officers

     During a disturbance by other detainees, detainees in one cell pod placed a blanket under their door to prevent water coming from a stopped up toilet in the area of the disturbance from entering their cell. They were allegedly lying submissively on the ground. Entering, officers allegedly used excessive force against them, including throwing a flash-bang grenade into the pod, which detonated near a detainee's face, burning him and causing permanent hearing damage. Other detainees in the pod were allegedly kicked in the face or ribs, shot with bean-bag guns, or handcuffed and dragged to where they had to lay in the standing water. At no time, according to the lawsuit, did these detainees resist or act aggressively. The sheriff was entitled to qualified immunity, as he was not at the detention center, used no excessive force himself, and had no opportunity to intervene to prevent others from using excessive force. Officers who allegedly used excessive force, however, were not entitled to qualified immunity, nor were other officers who were present but allegedly did not intervene to protect the plaintiffs. Edwards v. Byrd, #13-1560, (2014 U.S. App. Lexis 7670 8th Cir.).

Prisoner Death/Injury

****Editor's Case Alert****

    A man arrested on a warrant for failing to appear in court on a drug charge died in custody during booking. A number of officers restrained him when he allegedly acted in an insubordinate manner, pinning him face-down to the ground while one put him in a carotid restraint and another used a Taser on him in the stun mode on his leg for eight seconds after he was handcuffed. The appeals court upheld the trial court's denial of the defendants' motion for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity on both excessive force and denial of medical care claims. There was evidence that, viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, showed that the officers used various types of force on the arrestee while he was handcuffed, not resisting, and on his stomach. Estate of Booker v. Gomez, #12-1496, 745 F.3d 405 (10th Cir. 2014).

Religion

     A federal appeals court upheld a ruling that South Dakota Native American inmates had met their burden that a prison ban on tobacco use substantially burdened their religious freedom in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. 2000cc-1(a). The fact that some Native Americans who practice the Lakota religion would accept red willow bark as an alternative to tobacco did not alter the ruling. Even if it were shown that the ban furthered compelling interests in order and security, it was not the least restrictive means of doing so. The trial court's remedial orders, limiting the amount of tobacco used in activities, did not go further than needed to remedy the rights violation, and therefore complied with the Prison Litigation Reform Act under 18 U.S.C.S. § 3626(a)(1)(A). Native American Council v. Weber, #13-2745, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 7766 (8th Cir.).

Sexual Assault

     Female immigration detainees, who were ordered released after presenting a prima facie case for asylum, claimed that they were each sexually assaulted by a male employee of a private prison company while he was transporting them from an immigration detention center where they had been interviewed to a bus station or airport, with no other officers present. He pled guilty to federal and state charges stemming from the assaults. While two defendant federal officials knew of a contractual requirement that such transported immigration detainees be escorted by at least one officer of the same gender, and that the aim of this was to deter such assaults, their alleged failure to take action to enforce that condition did not violate a clearly established constitutional right. Doe v. Robertson, #13-50459, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 8534 (5th Cir.).

Segregation: Administrative

     An Oregon prisoner claimed that his due process rights were violated when he was housed in an Intensive Management Unit (IMU) for twenty-seven months without periodic, meaningful review of his status. While the court agreed that the alleged conditions of confinement in the IMU implicated a protected liberty interest, claims against the state department of corrections and officials in their official capacities for damages were barred by Eleventh Amendment immunity, while claims against individuals in their individual capacities were barred by qualified immunity, as the right asserted was not clearly established at the time. Summary judgment on a claim for declaratory judgment was also properly granted when the plaintiff had subsequently been released from the IMU and there was nothing to indicate that he was likely to be subjected to the same conditions again. Brown v. Oregon Dept. of Corr., #11-35628, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 8022 (9th Cir.).

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    Female Prisoners: Best Practices in the Use of Restraints with Pregnant Women and Girls Under Correctional Custody, Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Dept. of Justice (2014).

     Female Prisoners: Worse Than Second-Class: Solitary Confinement of Women in the United States, ACLU (April 2014).

     Incarceration Rates: Book: The Growth of Incarceration in the United States. Exploring Causes and Consequences, Committee on Causes and Consequences of High Rates of Incarceration; Committee on Law and Justice (CLAJ); Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE); National Research Council (The National Academies Press 2014). Description.

     Prisoners: Through Their Eyes: How Prisoners Make Sense of Their Incarceration, by Nadine Frederique and Lori Sexton, NIJ Journal 273 (2014): 60-65. NCJ 244149.

Reference:

     • Abbreviations of Law Reports, laws and agencies used in our publications.

     • AELE's list of recently-noted jail and prisoner law resources.