Recent Legal Developments

• Author: James E. Robertson
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016815586249
• Date: 01 June 2015
• Published date: 01 June 2015
• Subject Matter: Recent Legal Developments

Recent Legal Developments

Recent Legal Developments:

Correctional Case Law: 2014

James E. Robertson

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For all but the rare prisoner lawsuit granted a writ of certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court, the de

facto court of last resort is one of the U.S. Courts of Appeals. And for prisoners, that may be for the

better. Jim Collins, an astute counsel, sees ‘‘a very strong bias infavor of deference to the judgment

of correctional officials’’ on the part of the U.S. Supreme Court, diminishing the prospects for a rul-

ing favorable to prisoners seeking relief (quoted in Cohen, 2014, p. 1547).

In keeping with previous installments, this annual survey examines select prisoners’ rights

cases decided by the U.S. Courts of Appeals during 2014 and recommended for full-text publica-

tion in the Federal Reporter, Third Series. The author chose the cases examined subsequently

because they addressed persistent, important, or emerging constitutional issues about confinement

in jails and prisons. Because a summary judgment for the defendants or a dismissal in these cases

typically led to their appeal, the factual summaries of cases discussed herein reflect the practice of

the U.S. Courts of Appeals in such instances to view all facts and draw all inferences favorable to

the plaintiffs. Unless otherwise indicated, where the plaintiffs prevailed in the cases discussed

herein, the U.S. Courts of Appeals remanded their cause of action to U.S. District Courts for fur-

ther proceedings as appropriate. As in past installments, this article examines only constitutional

issues raised before the U.S. Courts of Appeals and thus does not address decisions about statutory

interpretation.

Health Care

Prisoners are disproportionately afflicted by a host of medical problems. An estimated 40%of pris-

oners present a host of chronic diseases (Simon, 2013), with rates of substance abuse and severe men-

tal illness approaching 50%and 17%, respectively (Robertson, 2013–2014). Correctionalauthorities

have largely failed to address these medical issues in an adequate manner. Wallace (2012) attributes

this failure to the following: ‘‘(1) Poor quality and an insufficient supply of physicians, (2) insuffi-

cient funding, and (3) overcrowding’’ (p. 265). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of

2010, Pub. L. No, 111-148, will not ameliorate these shortcomings because prisoners are excluded

from its benefits via the ‘‘inmate exception’’ present in 42 U.S.C. § 1396d (a) 29.

Pain as a serious medical need. When the Supreme Court in Estelle v. Gamble (1976) held that ‘‘delib-

erate indifference to a serious medical need’’ breaches the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel

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Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN, USA

Corresponding Author:

James E. Robertson, Minnesota State University, 113 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001, USA.

Email: james.robertson@mnsu.edu

Criminal Justice Review

2015, Vol. 40(2) 258-271

ª2015 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016815586249

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