Opinion ID: 1404492
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Did the Defendants' Conduct Violate a Constitutional Right?

Text: The Supreme Court has interpreted the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment to include a right to safe and humane conditions of confinement. See Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 847, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994). A denial of safe and humane conditions can result from an officer's deliberate indifference to a prisoner's safety. See Fruit v. Norris, 905 F.2d 1147, 1150 (8th Cir.1990). A claim based on deliberate indifference requires a substantial risk of harm to the inmate that an officer knew of and disregarded. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837, 114 S.Ct. 1970. Deliberate indifference requires more than mere negligence, but does not require acting for the very purpose of causing harm or with knowledge that harm will result. Id. at 835, 114 S.Ct. 1970. The Supreme Court has stated that acting or failing to act with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm to a prisoner is the equivalent of recklessly disregarding that risk. Id. at 836, 114 S.Ct. 1970. This court has previously held that failure to provide a seatbelt to a prisoner while driving in a manner that puts the prisoner at risk of injury can constitute deliberate indifference to a prisoner's safety and health. Morgan, 39 F.3d 1184, 1994 WL 610993, . If the facts as alleged by Brown establish that 1) there was a substantial risk of harm to Brown and 2) Fortner or Scott knew of and disregarded the substantial risk to Brown, then their conduct demonstrated a deliberate indifference to Brown's safety and violated Brown's Eighth Amendment rights. Because claims under § 1983 cannot be based upon vicarious liability, see City of Canton, Ohio v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 385, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989); Otey v. Marshall, 121 F.3d 1150, 1155 (8th Cir. 1997), we must consider each defendant individually to determine whether the evidence indicates a constitutional violation occurred.
Fortner was driving the van transporting Brown. Fortner states in his brief, There is no dispute that Fortner did not place plaintiff in a seatbelt despite Brown, and other inmates, requesting that he do so. This admission acknowledges two facts: 1) Brown requested a seatbelt and 2) Fortner did not secure Brown with a seatbelt. Fortner asserts these are the only facts on which Brown's § 1983 claim rests and argues that failing to secure a seatbelt is insufficient to constitute a constitutional violation. Fortner's characterization of the evidence is incorrect. In addition to the failure to fasten Brown's seatbelt, Brown presents evidence of Fortner's reckless driving. Brown has offered evidence that Fortner was driving in excess of the speed limit, following too closely to the lead van, crossing over double-yellow lines, and passing non-convoy cars when the road markings clearly prohibited doing so. Further, Brown has presented evidence showing that the inmates riding in Fortner's van asked him to slow down, and Fortner ignored their requests. [1] The evidence Brown presented makes the instant case quite similar to Morgan, 39 F.3d 1184, 1994 WL 610993,. In Morgan, the plaintiff alleged the officer transporting him in the rear of a patrol car refused to let him wear a seatbelt, drove at a high rate of speed in bad weather, refused to slow down despite the requests to do so, and taunted him for being scared under the circumstances. Id. This court found the plaintiff to have alleged facts sufficient to support a conclusion that [the transporting officer] manifested deliberate indifference for [the inmate's] safety, and thus entitle[d][him] to relief. Id. Although Morgan is an unpublished per curiam opinion and we are not bound to follow it under Eighth Circuit Rule 32.1A, the panel deciding the earlier appeal in this case relied upon Morgan, see Brown, 353 F.3d at 1040, and we choose to do so, as well. As in Morgan, the facts presented regarding Fortner's conduct provide sufficient grounds to conclude Fortner's actions created a substantial risk of harm to Brown, and Fortner knew of and disregarded the risk he created. The uncontested evidence indicates Fortner knew Brown was shackled and restrained in a manner that prevented him from securing his own seatbelt. Nonetheless, Fortner rejected Brown's request for a seatbelt. Fortner drove recklessly and ignored requests by the inmate passengers in his van for him to slow down. From this evidence, a reasonable jury could conclude that there was a substantial risk of harm to Brown and that Fortner knew of and disregarded the substantial risk harm. As such, Brown has presented sufficient evidence that Fortner's actions may have violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
Scott was driving the van that crashed into Fortner's van. Scott was looking down at his speedometer when the convoy vehicles in front of him suddenly slowed down. When he looked up and saw the brake lights, Scott responded by slamming on his brakes and swerved in an attempt to avoid the van in front of him. He was unsuccessful. Like Fortner, Scott was driving in excess of the speed limit, following too closely to the van in front of him, and passing at inappropriate times as part of the five-vehicle convoy. Scott's driving proximately caused the accident that resulted in Brown's physical injuries. The critical difference between Fortner and Scott, however, is knowledge. The question of what was known to a person who might be shielded by qualified immunity is reviewable. Henderson, 439 F.3d at 501 (quotation omitted). There is no evidence that Scott was asked to slow down and refused. Thus, Brown has not presented evidence showing that Scott knew the inmate passengers were concerned for their safety due to his driving or that he ignored those concerns. Further, Brown does not provide evidence that Scott actually knew Brown was not in a seatbelt, or that Scott knew Brown had requested and been denied a seatbelt. [2] The district court concluded there was sufficient evidence that Scott had knowledge that [Brown] was being unrestrained by a seatbelt, but does not state the evidence demonstrating Scott's knowledge. The evidence in the record that may, by inference, tend to support this conclusion is the fact that the inmate in Scott's van was not secured by a seatbelt; one could infer Scott knew other inmates may not have been wearing seatbelts because his inmate passenger was not. We conclude this evidence is insufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude Scott actually knew Brown was unrestrained by a seatbelt and therefore more vulnerable to injuries in the event of a crash. Deliberate indifference requires actual knowledge of a substantial risk. Young v. Selk, 508 F.3d 868, 873 (8th Cir.2007) (An official is deliberately indifferent if he or she actually knows of the substantial risk and fails to respond reasonably to it.). The inferential evidence on which the district court's conclusion apparently relies falls short of establishing Scott's required knowledge, as the lack of a requested seatbelt is a critical part of the risk posed to Brown. Considering the facts in the light most favorable to Brown, the evidence demonstrates that Scott may have driven in a manner that increased the risk of harm to the shackled inmates in the convoy, including Brown. Without more than reckless driving, however, we cannot conclude that Scott's conduct amounted to deliberate indifference.