United States Ninth Circuit

In this case, plaintiff, an Oregon state prisoner, asserts that state officials violated his rights under the Fourteenth and Eighth Amendments when the Oregon Department of Corrections froze more than $60,000 in his inmate trust account to recover the cost of his incarceration. Summary judgment in defendants' favor is affirmed, where: 1) though a state must provide a pre-deprivation hearing before freezing substantial inmate assets, summary judgment in favor of defendants was proper on the basis of qualified immunity because the constitutional obligation was not clearly established at the time of the conduct; and 2) prison officials did not deprive plaintiff of medical care during his period of incarceration and a state's obligation to provide medical care does not extend to shielding assets in inmate accounts.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/22/2015
• Published 01/22/2015

Judges

• Hawkins

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel