Medical care.

• Position: Hallett v. Morgan - Gibson v. County of Washoe - Fenner v. Suthers - Evans v. Bonner

29. Medical Care U.S. District Court Bozeman v. Orum, 199 F.Supp.2d 1216 (M.D.Ala. 2002). The representative of the estate of a FAILURE TO pretrial detainee brought a [section] 1983 action PROVIDE CARE against a sheriff and officials at a county detention facility, alleging that the detainee's DELIBERATE death was the result constitutional violations. INDIFFERENCE The district court held that detention officers' use of force to restrain the detainee did not MENTAL HEALTH violate his Fourteenth Amendment right against the use of excessive force, even though the officers threatened to "kick" the detainee's "ass." The officers apparently punched or slapped the detainee, and the detainee died as the result of the officers' actions, but the court found that some level of force was necessary to restore order where the detainee was apparently undergoing a mental breakdown in his cell. The court held that nurses at the detention facility were not deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of the detainee when they failed to obtain treatment and medication upon learning that the detainee had been evaluated for mental health problems and prescribed medication in the past. The court noted that the nurses had no knowledge during intake beyond a "slight flag" of past evaluations for mental illness and that the detainee had medication to help him "rest." The court also found that the failure of the detention facility to implement a policy requiring staff to follow up on inmates who had acknowledged past mental health problems or evaluations for mental health problems, did not violate the detainee's Fourteenth Amendment right to adequate medical care. The court held that municipal jails are not required to provide on-site psychiatric care for their inmates, and that the detention facility was not required to train its officers in diagnosing or treating mental illness. According to the court, the facility provided adequate training in the proper use of deadly force, including warnings on the dangers of positional asphyxia, and was therefore not liable under [section] 1983 for failing to supervise staff. The court found that summary judgment in favor of the county was precluded by a genuine issue of material fact on the allegation that officers were deliberately indifferent to the medical needs of the detainee by failing to resuscitate him after they realized that he was not breathing. (Montgomery County Detention Facility, Alabama) U.S. Appeals Court Bridges v. Rhodes, 41...