Ziemba v. Rell.

U.S. Appeals Court

SUICIDE

Ziemba v. Rell, 409 F.3d 553 (2nd Cir. 2005). A prisoner brought a purported class action against correctional officials, alleging that the execution of another prisoner would violate his constitutional rights by increasing the risk that he and other suicide-prone prisoners would attempt to harm themselves, and that the state corrections department lacked the resources necessary to prevent harm. The district court dismissed the action and denied the prisoner's request for a temporary restraining order, and the prisoner appealed. The appeals court affirmed, finding that the prisoner failed to establish a causal connection between the execution and the risk that he would attempt to harm himself, as required to have standing to bring a claim. The court noted that the alleged injury of which the prisoner complained would be caused by a chain of events including actions taken by class members themselves, and was highly indirect. The prisoner asserted that the media paid substantial attention to the pending execution case and that news reports of the execution would be read class members. (Connecticut)