Fisher v. Lovejoy’s Empirical Analysis
414 F.3d 659 · 2005
Citation profile
12 federal appellate ·
Relationships
Applies 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act))
Relies on Celotex Corporation v. Catrett H · Farmer v. Brennan · McGill v. Duckworth · Haley v. Gross · Tesch v. County of Green Lake
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“a prison official may be liable “only if he knows that inmates face a substantial risk of serious harm and disregards that risk by failing to take reasonable measures to abate it.” Farmer, 511 U.S. at 847 , 114 S.Ct. 1970 . That the officer had actual knowledge of impending harm can be inferred from circumstantial evidence. Id. at 842 , 114 S.Ct. 1970 ; James v. Milwaukee County, 956 F.2d 696 , 700 (7th Cir.1992); Peate v. McCann, 294 F.3d 879 , 882 (7th Cir.2002). Proving deliberate indifference, however, requires more than a showing of negligent or even grossly negligent behavior. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 835 , 114 S.Ct. 1970 ; James, 956 F.2d at 699 . Rather, the corrections officer must have acted with the equivalent of criminal recklessness. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 836-37 , 114 S.Ct. 1970 ; James, 956 F.2d at 700 ; Jackson \v. Ill. Medi-Car, Inc., 300 F.3d 760 , 765 (7th Cir.2002) ]. Indeed, an officer who actually knew of a substantial risk to a detainee’s safety is free from liability “if [he] responded reasonably to the risk, even if the harm ultimately was not averted, because in that case it cannot be said that [he was] deliberately indifferent.” Peate, 294 F.3d at 882 (citing Farmer, 511 U.S. at 847 , 114 S.Ct. 1970 , 128 L.Ed.2d 811 ). “The test of deliberate indifference ensures that the mere failure of the prison official to choose the best course of ac tion does not amount to a constitutional violation.” Id. (citing Farmer, 511 U.S. at 844 , 114 S.Ct. 1970 ).”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Borello v. Allison“mere failure of the prison official to choose the best course of action does not amount to a constitutional violation.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Giles v. Tobeck
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.