United States Supreme Court

In a suit under Rev. Stat. section 1979, 42 U. S. C. section 1983, against various entities and individuals connected with a correctional institution, who plaintiffs claimed violated decedent's civil rights in failing to prevent his suicide, the Third Circuit's denial of defendants' motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds is reversed where:1) even if the institution's suicide screening and prevention measures contained the shortcomings that plaintiffs allege, no precedent on the books in November 2004 would have made clear to petitioners that they were overseeing a system that violated the Constitution; and 2) because, at the very least, defendants were not contravening clearly established law, they are entitled to qualified immunity.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/01/2015
• Published 06/01/2015

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• United States Supreme Court

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