Opinion ID: 183975
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Harrell

Text: Harrell processed Bishop through booking when he entered the Macomb County Jail on December 1, and he completed a referral form that scheduled Bishop for a mental health assessment. There is no evidence that he had any contact with Bishop after that date. As noted above, the Supreme Court has held that prison officials who actually knew of a substantial risk to inmate health or safety may be found free from liability if they responded reasonably to the risk, even if the harm ultimately was not averted. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 830, 114 S.Ct. 1970. In Clark-Murphy, this Court found that the fact that defendants had completed psychological-referral forms was relevant to whether they responded reasonably to a risk of harm to the victim, but this fact did not suffice to establish that they were entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law because they had repeated interactions with the victim and repeated opportunities to assess the seriousness of the situation. Clark-Murphy, 439 F.3d at 290. Here, in contrast, there is no evidence that Harrell had any further contact with Bishop after he completed the referral form. In addition, there is no evidence that Harrell knew that Bishop would be housed in the Mental Health Step-Down Unit or that he would be housed with Floyd. Responding to a risk to an inmate by referring the matter for further investigation or taking other appropriate administrative action may in some cases fulfill an official's protective duties under the Eighth Amendment. In this case, completing the referral form was a reasonable discharge of Harrell's duty to protect Bishop. Taking all of Bishop's facts at their best, he has not raised a triable issue of fact as to whether Harrell exhibited deliberate indifference to his safety needs. Thus, the district court's denial of qualified immunity to Harrell is REVERSED.