Watts v. McKinney.

PositionBrief Article

U.S. Appeals Court

BRUTALITY

EXCESSIVE FORCE

Watts v. McKinney, 394 F.3d 710 (9th Cir. 2005). A state inmate filed a civil rights action alleging that a prison guard violated his Eighth Amendment rights. The district court denied summary judgment for the guard and he appealed. The appeals court affirmed, finding that the guard was not entitled to qualified immunity from liability. The court held that a reasonable prison guard would have reasonably believed that kicking a helpless prisoner's genitals was cruel and unusual conduct. The court noted that "to suppose that any reasonable person, let alone a trained prison officer, would not...

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