Washington v. LaPorte County Sheriff's Dept.

U.S. Appeals Court

PRISONER ON PRISONER ASSAULT

Washington v. LaPorte County Sheriff's Dept., 306 F.3d 515 (7th Cir. 2002). A pretrial detainee brought a [section] 1983 due process claim against a jail and its officers, alleging that injuries he suffered when he was attacked by another inmate were caused by the jail's cell assignment policy. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants and the detainee appealed. The appeals court affirmed, finding that the jail's cell assignment policy did not demonstrate deliberate indifference on the part of officials to a substantial risk of serious harm to the detainee. The policy allowed inmates to choose their own cell assignments. The detainee was charged with driving with a suspended license and he was detained at the jail pending trial, as he was unable to post bond. He was assigned to a cell block originally designed to hold ten inmates, but which actually housed seventeen. The detainee was allowed to choose his own cell assignment within the housing unit. The court noted that the detainee shared a cell with the inmate who eventually assaulted him for two weeks without incident prior to the attack, and did not inform jail officers he had fought with the inmate or that he feared harm. (LaPointe County Jail, Indiana)