Opinion ID: 775041
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Was the Right Clearly Established at the Time of the Violation?

Text: 58 We must now consider whether the guards may be held liable under sec. 1983, or whether they are entitled to qualified immunity. We have recently set forth the framework for making this determination: 59 Qualified immunity protects government officials from individual liability under Section 1983 for actions taken while performing discretionary functions, unless their conduct violates clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Thus, before liability will attach, the contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. 60 Brokaw v. Mercer County, 235 F.3d 1000, 1022 (7th Cir. 2000) (internal quotation and citations omitted). There can be little debate that it was clearly established, long before 1998, that prison officials will be liable under Section 1983 for a pretrial detainee's suicide if they were deliberately indifferent to a substantial suicide risk. Hall, 957 F.2d at 406. Further, [i]t was clearly established in 1986 that police officers could not be deliberately indifferent to a detainee who is in need of medical attention because of a mental illness or who is a substantial suicide risk. Deliberate indifference to a prisoner's medical needs constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Id. at 404-05. Thus, we find that the guards are not immune from individual liability in this case. 9