Intake and admissions.

25. Intake and Admissions

U.S. District Court   Bozeman v. Orum, 199 F.Supp.2d 1216 (M.D.Ala.
                      2002). The representative of the estate of a
  SCREENING           pretrial detainee brought a [section] 1983 action
                      against a sheriff and officials at a county
  MEDICAL SCREENING   detention facility, alleging that the detainee's
                      death was the result constitutional violations.
                      The district court held that detention officers'
                      use of force to restrain the detainee did not
                      violate his Fourteenth Amendment right against
                      the use of excessive force, even though the
                      officers threatened to "kick" the detainee's
                      "ass." The officers apparently punched or slapped
                      the detainee, and the detainee died as the result
                      of the officers' actions, but the court found
                      that some level of force was necessary to restore
                      order where the detainee was apparently
                      undergoing a mental breakdown in his cell. The
                      court held that nurses at the detention facility
                      were not deliberately indifferent to the serious
                      medical needs of the detainee when they failed to
                      obtain treatment and medication upon learning
                      that the detainee had been evaluated for mental
                      health problems and prescribed medication in the
                      past. The court noted that the nurses had no
                      knowledge during intake beyond a "slight flag" of
                      past evaluations for mental illness and that the
                      detainee had medication to help him "rest." The
                      court also found that the failure of the
                      detention facility to implement a policy
                      requiring staff to follow up on inmates who had
                      acknowledged past mental health problems or
                      evaluations for mental health problems, did not
                      violate the detainee's Fourteenth Amendment right
                      to adequate medical care. The court held that
                      municipal jails are not required to provide
                      on-site psychiatric care for their inmates, and
                      that the detention facility was not required to
                      train its officers in diagnosing or treating
                      mental illness. (Montgomery County Detention
                      Facility, Alabama)

U.S. Appeals Court    Gibson v. County of Washoe, Nev., 290 F.3d 1175
                      (9th Cir. 2002). The widow of a manic depressive
  MEDICAL SCREENING   detainee who suffered a heart attack and died
                      while in a county jail, sued the county, sheriff
                      and various officials under [section] 1983. The
                      district court entered summary judgment for the
                      defendants and the widow appealed. The appeals
                      court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and
                      remanded. The appeals court held that several
                      fact issues precluded summary judgment: whether
                      the county's policy of delaying medical screening
                      of combative inmates posed a substantial risk of
                      serious harm to the detainee; whether the county
                      was aware of that risk; whether the nurse who
                      received the detainee's medication at the jail
                      was deliberately indifferent; and whether the
                      county was liable based upon its policy regarding
                      handling of prescription medication. The appeals
                      court found that deputies who had contact with
                      the detainee after he was admitted to the jail,
                      and who took part in the forcible restraint that
                      preceded his death, were not deliberately
                      indifferent to his medical needs because they
                      knew nothing of his mental condition beyond what
                      they could observe. (Washoe County Jail, Nevada)

U.S. District Court   Turner v. Kight, 192 F.Supp.2d 391 (D.Md. 2002).
                      A female detainee who was arrested on an
  MEDICATION          outstanding warrant associated with a civil
                      matter and detained at a jail brought an action
  MEDICAL SCREENING   against county and state officials. The district
                      court granted summary judgment for the
                      defendants. The court held that arresting and
                      booking officers were deliberately indifferent to
                      the detainee's serious medical needs when they
                      allegedly removed a neck brace and seized
                      medication, ignoring her complaints of pain and
                      muscle spasm. The detainee sometimes limped and
                      walked with a cane, but the court found that the
                      detainee's alleged pain did not rise to the level
                      of a serious medical need. The court granted
                      qualified immunity to the officers, finding that
                      there was no indication that the officers
                      actually knew of, and ignored, a serious need for
                      medical care. The court also found that the
                      officers were not deliberately indifferent by
                      failing to dispense medication in response to the
                      detainee's complaints of pain, where the officers
                      were not permitted to dispense medication and
                      they notified the detention facility's medical
                      staff of a nonemergency situation, who did not
                      respond during the six hours the detainee was
                      confined. (Montgomery County Detention Center,
                      Maryland)