Wever v. Lincoln County, Nebraska.

• Position: FAILURE TO PROTECT - Brief Article

U.S. Appeals Court

SUICIDE

Wever v. Lincoln County, Nebraska, 388 F.3d 601 (8th Cir. 2004). A personal representative brought a civil rights action against a county and county sheriff alleging that an arrestee's Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated. The district court denied the sheriff's motion for summary judgment and the sheriff appealed. The appeals court affirmed. The court held that the arrestee had a clearly established Fourteenth Amendment right to be protected from the known risks of suicide, and two prior suicides in the county jail should have put the sheriff on notice that his...