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Chemical Agents

     A prisoner claimed that his Eighth Amendment rights were violated when a sergeant pepper-sprayed him because he refused to return to his cell after showering. He further claimed that another officer then turned off the water, which prevented him from rinsing off the pepper spray for ten to fifteen minutes. A federal appeals court upheld summary judgment for the defendant on the excessive force claim, noting that the prisoner had been warned that he would be pepper sprayed if he did not comply with orders, and that he either threw an object at or spit at the sergeant three times, with a small quantity of pepper spray used after each act of defiance. There was no indication of a malicious intent to harm or that the force used was excessive. The other officer was entitled to qualified immunity on the delayed decontamination claim, as the prisoner failed to establish that he acted with deliberate indifference to a serious medical need. Burns v. Eaton, #13-1730, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 9596 (8th Cir.).

Electronic Control Weapons: Stun Mode

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).

First Amendment

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

     A man civilly committed as a sexually violent person and residing in a Treatment and Detention Center claimed that his First Amendment rights to free speech were unreasonably restricted when he was denied access to certain video games and movies, specifically unrated media. Rejecting this claim, an intermediate state appeals court found that the defendant Center had legitimate security and rehabilitative interests in promoting a therapeutic environment and that this interest was promoted by barring the plaintiff's access to games or movies that could encourage antisocial behavior or sexual deviance. Schloss v. Jumper, 2014 IL App (4th) 121086, 2014 Ill. App. Lexis 379.

Medical Care

     A private company served as an independent contractor providing healthcare service to those detained in a county jail. After a pretrial detainee there died from self-inflicted injuries, a federal civil rights lawsuit claimed that three jail employees were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs. A federal appeals court found that it lacked jurisdiction to review a denial of qualified immunity to the defendants when the basis for the denial was based on the presence of disputed issues of material fact. Cady v. Cumberland County Jail, #13-2040, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 10416 (1st Cir.).

Prison & Jail Conditions: General

     Prison officials filed an appeal from a trial court order certifying a class and a subclass of prisoners in Arizona state facilities to assert claims that they had been subjected to systematic Eighth Amendment violations by prison conditions. A federal appeals court found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in certifying the class since the plaintiffs' claims depended on common questions of law or fact, satisfying the commonality and typicality requirements. Parsons v. Ryan, #13-16396, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 10466 (9th Cir.).

Prison Litigation Reform Act: Consent Decrees

     Prisons in California have operated under a receivership since 2006 to comply with consent decrees concerning prison health care. The trial court ordered the state to disclose its expert witnesses and their reports 120 days before moving to terminate the decrees under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The state appealed the order, and the appeal was denied. The trial court's order was a sensible scheduling order designed to allow the plaintiffs and the court adequate notice of the evidence the state would rely on in support of its motion. Plata v. Brown, #13-15466, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 9801 (9th Cir.).

Prison Litigation Reform Act: Exhaustion of Remedies

    A former Iowa prisoner claimed that the Parole Board and State violated his constitutional rights based on a failure to conduct annual in-person interviews as to whether to grant parole. This claim was barred, a federal appeals court held, due to the plaintiff's failure to exhaust available administrative remedies before suing. Martin v. State of Iowa, #12-3714, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 9200 (8th Cir.).

Prisoner Assault: By Inmates

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

     A pretrial detainee in a county facility was housed in a small unit with an upper level open to the lower level. Both minimum and medium security detainees were housed there. Four or five fights were reported there every day, with 20-30 estimated to occur but remain unreported. The detainee had a reputation as a bully, and was known for stealing food. One day, he was confronted by approximately 12 angry prisoners outside of his upper level cell. An officer was with the crowd, and a verbal dispute ensued. The inmates did not disperse, and as the detainee began to walk to the lower level, an inmate struck him. The officer restrained that inmate, but another inmate then struck him. The detainee suffered a concussion and the loss of sight in one eye. Evidence in his lawsuit included statements from some inmates that officers could and should have stopped the argument. Overturning summary judgment for the defendant county, a federal appeals court found that there were genuine issues of material fact as to whether there had been deliberate indifference concerning the need for pre-service training of officers in conflict de-escalation and intervention, and whether the lack of such training helped cause the plaintiff detainee's injuries. Thomas v. Cumberland Cnty., 12-3959, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 6668 (3rd Cir.).

Prisoner Suicide

     The estate of a female immigration detainee who committed suicide in a county jail has settled a federal civil rights lawsuit over the death for at least $1 million. The defendants were a private medical group and one of its employees alleged to have acted with deliberate indifference to the detainee's serious medical needs at the detention center. In an earlier decision in the case, a federal appeals court found that the woman should have been placed on suicide watch for her depression. The court found that there was evidence that could show that one employee of a private firm providing medical services at the jail had been aware of the detainee's depressed condition and suicidal thoughts, but failed to take any steps to prevent her from killing herself. The summary judgment on claims against the county, the sheriff, the jail's director, and two other employees of the medical firm was upheld. Belbachir v. McHenry Cnty., #13-1002, 726 F.3d 975 (7th Cir. 2013)."The failure to take a simple, inexpensive, obvious and indeed prescribed measure to avoid (suicide) is inexcusable." Belbachir v. County of McHenry, #06-C-1392, U.S. Dist. Court (N.D. Ill.), reported in Chicago Tribune (April 14, 2014).

Religion

     An Idaho state prisoner claimed that prison officials had imposed an unwarranted burden on his exercise of religion in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. 2000cc et seq. Specifically, he claimed that his opportunities for access to chapel facilities were curtailed when the defendants found out that he was using the chapel in furtherance of romantic relationships with correctional officers. The federal appeals court ruled that the plaintiff could not seek money damages against prison officials in their individual capacities under the statute. The statute was passed by Congress under its spending power, and the individuals were not the recipients of any federal funds. The plaintiff also asserted a First Amendment retaliation claim, alleging that the actions taken were in retaliation for his success in an earlier lawsuit. Insufficient evidence of any such motive was presented, however. Wood v. Yordy, #12-35336, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 10256 (9th Cir.).

Sexual Assault

     A teenage pretrial detainee was sexually assaulted by an older heavier registered sex offender while in a county jail. The appeals court held that the plaintiff had to show that the defendant sheriff and jail administrator personally knew of the constitutional risk posed by their alleged inadequate training or supervision and proximately caused his injuries by failing to take required remedial action. Findings of fact by the trial court so far showed that the jail administrator was not presently entitled to qualified immunity as it was alleged that he failed to train a jailer concerning the jail's policy of locking all cell doors overnight. The sheriff, however, was granted qualified immunity, as there was nothing presented but conjecture to refute his testimony that he did not know about a substantial risk arising from the administrator's failure to train the jailer. Walton v. Dawson, #12-4000, 2014 U.S. App. Lexis 9304 (8th Cir.).

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     Statistics: Capital Punishment, 2012 - Statistical Tables, by Tracy L. Snell (May 15, 2014 NCJ 245789).

     Statistics: Jail Inmates at Midyear 2013 - Statistical Tables, by Daniela Golinelli, Ph.D., Todd D. Minton (May 8, 2014 NCJ 245350).

Reference:

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

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