8th Amendment Violation.

Byline: Derek Hawkins

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: John McCottrell, et al. v. Marcus White, et al.

Case No.: 17-2295

Officials: ROVNER, HAMILTON, and BARRETT, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 8th Amendment Violation

The plaintiffs were inmates at Stateville Correctional Center when they were struck by buckshot fired by the defendant prison guards. The plaintiffs sued under 42 U.S.C. 1983, asserting that the guards violated their rights under the Eighth Amendment when they discharged their shotguns over a crowded prison dining hall. The guards countered that they fired the shots as a necessary warning to two other inmates who were fighting with each other and resisting the efforts of other guards who were trying to break up the conflict. The district court granted summary judgment in...