U.S. Appeals Court: DAMAGES NEGLIGENCE.

• Position: Prisoners and prisons - Brief Article

Rangolan v. County of Nassau, 217 F.3d 77(2nd Cir. 2000). An inmate who was beaten by fellow prisoners brought an action against the county and county sheriffs department alleging negligence and violation of his Eighth Amendment rights. The district court entered judgment for the inmate on the negligence claim and ordered remitittur of damages. The appeals court affirmed in part and certified the question to the state court, finding that the county's conduct, in placing the inmate with a prisoner against whom the inmate had acted as a confidential informant, did not rise to the level of an Eighth Amendment violation. The court noted that although the inmate's records indicated that he should not be...