Byrd v. Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, No. 15-16282 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, an Arizona state prisoner and former pretrial detainee, filed suit pro se under 42 U.S.C. 1983, challenging defendants' alleged policy of allowing female guards to observe daily, from four to five feet away, male pretrial detainees showering and using the bathroom. The district court dismissed the complaint under 28 U.S.C. 1915A, concluding that Ninth Circuit precedent foreclosed plaintiff's claims. The court concluded that the fact that plaintiff is a pretrial detainee is enough to distinguish his allegations from precedent concerning convicted prisoners; even if plaintiff were a convicted prisoner, plaintiff's allegations survive section 1915A dismissal because the scope and manner of the intrusions were far broader than those the court previously has approved; the allegations of plaintiff's bodily privacy claim, taken as true, warrant an answer; and plaintiff's allegations for his cruel and unusual punishment claim, taken as true, are sufficient to meet the low threshold for proceeding past the screening stage. The court noted that it may be that the prison’s up close and personal policy of female guards observing male pretrial detainees is necessary to ensure security and provide equal work opportunities in the prison. The court explained that such considerations and their legal effect are just conjecture at this point. And conjecture is not enough to dismiss a complaint under section 1915A. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded.
Court Description: Prisoner Civil Rights The panel reversed the district court’s sua sponte dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, and remanded in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 challenging defendants Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s alleged policy of allowing female guards to observe daily, from four to five feet away, male pretrial detainees showering and using the bathroom. The panel held that even if plaintiff was a convicted prisoner rather than a pretrial detainee, his allegations survived a section 1915A dismissal. The panel held that assuming that the female guards could view male pretrial detainees while showering and using the toilet frequently and up close, the scope and manner of the intrusions were far broader than those this court previously has approved.
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