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Article: Supreme Court: officers who cuffed inmate to hitching post are not immune from damages. (Feature).(Hope v. Pelzer)
- Article from:
- Corrections Today
- Article date:
- December 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 American Correctional Association, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Correctional officers who allegedly handcuffed a shirtless inmate to a hitching post in the hot Alabama sun, without regular water or bathroom breaks, may be liable to the inmate for damages under the Federal Civil Rights Act (FCRA). Although the case has not yet gone to trial, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in the case of Hope v. Pelzer, 122 S. Ct. 2508 (June 27, 2002), that if the inmate proves his case against the correctional officers, they will not be shielded by the defense of "qualified immunity" from having to pay monetary damages.
The decision in the Hope v. Pelzer case, which was handed down at the very end of the court's 2001-2002 session, provides ...