Fields v. Abbott, et al., No. 10-2805 (8th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, a jailer in Miller County, filed a civil rights action against Miller County, its sheriff, three of its county commissioners, and several other defendants to recover for her serious injuries which were caused by two inmates who took her hostage and attacked her after she honored their request to visit the jail's law library. The Miller County individual defendants filed this interlocutory appeal, alleging that the district court erred in concluding that a reasonable jury could find that they violated plaintiff's substantive due process rights. The court held that the Miller County individual defendants were entitled to qualified immunity where their conduct was not conscience shocking and therefore did not violate plaintiff's substantive due process rights. Accordingly, the court reversed the judgment of the district court and remanded for further proceedings against Miller County, the remaining defendant.
Court Description: Civil case - civil rights. In action by jail guard claiming defendants violated her civil rights by maintaining a condition in the jail which allowed inmates to gain control of a door to the drunk-tank, the district court erred in denying the individual defendants' motions for summary judgment based on qualified immunity; even after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the individual defendants' conduct was not conscience shocking and, therefore, did not violate plaintiff's substantive due process rights.
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