Opinion ID: 788844
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Duke and Jerry's Alleged Deprivation of Toothpaste

Text: 32 Next, Appellants claim that the district court erred in not granting them qualified immunity on Duke and Jerry's claim that the denial of oral hygiene supplies (toothpaste), without attenuated serious medical injury, was a violation of the Boards' established Eighth Amendment rights. We have already held that Farnham is not entitled to qualified immunity because Duke has stated a cause of action under the Eighth Amendment for deprivation of toothpaste for three-and-a-half weeks that constituted deliberate indifference to a current or existing serious medical condition. Thus, as a practical matter, Farnham is not entitled to qualified immunity as to Duke's Eighth Amendment claim even if we were to find that Jerry and Duke have failed to state a claim under a deliberate indifference to a serious medical need threatening future health rationale. However, for the sake of simplicity we will consider both brothers' claims in concert. 33 The Boards allege Jail officials violated their constitutional rights when they suffered through the deprivation of toothpaste for extended periods of time (Duke: 3.5 weeks and Jerry: 90% of his stay at the Jail or approximately 16 weeks), and that this deprivation constituted a failure to provide humane treatment. This is a distinct and cognizable constitutional claim under the Eighth Amendment. See Helling, 509 U.S. at 34-35, 113 S.Ct. 2475 (recognizing claims under the Eighth Amendment for conditions which pose a serious unreasonable risk of serious damage to [an inmate's] future health.). Therefore, it would be inappropriate for us to analyze this claim under the rubric of attention to present medical needs without evidence of an existing objective harm or injury. Jackson, 300 F.3d at 765. Instead, we analyze Duke and Jerry's deprivation of toothpaste claim in the context of the constitutional right of pretrial detainees to receive necessary and proper personal hygiene items as preventative of future medical and physical harm. See Henderson, 196 F.3d at 846-47; see also Martin v. Sargent, 780 F.2d 1334, 1338 (8th Cir.1985). 34 While we have held that the denial of toothpaste for ten days is not sufficient to state an Eighth Amendment claim, see Harris v. Fleming, 839 F.2d 1232, 1234 (7th Cir.1988), other circuit courts have included the right to an adequate supply of toothpaste under a right to hygienic materials. See, e.g., Penrod, 94 F.3d at 1405-06. In Penrod v. Zavaras, the Tenth Circuit held that the plaintiff had raised a genuine issue of material fact as to whether prison officials' denial of free toothpaste (the plaintiff while incarcerated spent his available funds pursuing legal claims), where the deprivation of toothpaste eventually caused serious harm to his medical needs — specifically recession of the gums and tooth decay — violated the Eighth Amendment. Id. at 1406. Also, in Green v. Ferrell, 801 F.2d 765 (5th Cir.1986), the Fifth Circuit reversed a magistrate's holding that prison officials are required to furnish additional laundry service and hygienic materials, including toothpaste, where (as in this case) the jail had a policy of providing hygienic materials upon request. Id. at 771. 35 Indeed, the right to toothpaste as an essential hygienic product is analogous to the established right to a nutritionally adequate diet. See Antonelli, 81 F.3d at 1432. In Antonelli v. Sheahan we held that the deprivation of a nutritional diet could constitute a violation of a prisoner's Eighth Amendment rights. See id. This is because requiring that prisoners and pre-trial detainees receive a nutritionally adequate diet assists one in combating illness and contributes to the prevention of future health problems. See id. In the same respect, requiring that officials supply needed dental and medical care in the form of oral hygiene products, i.e., toothpaste, also prevents future potentially serious dental problems such as tooth decay and gum infections. Unquestionably, the neglect of one's dental hygiene can, and frequently does, result in objectively serious dental and medical problems, which is illustrated by Duke's need to have a number of his teeth extracted. 7 Therefore, we hold that the Boards, in claiming that they were deprived of toothpaste for long periods of time, have sufficiently alleged the violation of a cognizable constitutional right, which may very well result in an objectively serious harm to future health. See Cavalieri, 321 F.3d at 620. 36 However, having recognized that a constitutional right to toothpaste exists under certain circumstances, and that the injury caused by such a deprivation may be objectively serious, we must next determine whether Farnham was deliberately indifferent to Duke and Jerry's needs. See Armstrong, 152 F.3d at 577. Duke claims he was denied access to toothpaste for three-and-a-half weeks. Jerry claims he was denied toothpaste for 90% of his 126 day stay at the Jail. In addition, Duke and Jerry both claim they complained to Farnham on a number of occasions about the conditions at the Jail, and specifically about the lack of toothpaste and other provisions, to no avail. 8 Specifically, Duke claims he requested additional toothpaste approximately fifteen times. Viewing the testimony in the light most favorable to Duke and Jerry, as we must, we hold that they have sufficiently alleged a scenario that supports our conclusion that Farnham was both deliberately indifferent to their constitutional rights and was on notice as to their predicament. See Hall, 957 F.2d at 404. 37 Finally, this Court is called upon to conclude whether the constitutional right to oral hygiene products was clearly established at the time of the alleged violations. A clearly established right may be found, in the absence of precedent, when the contours of the right [are] sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. Anderson, 483 U.S. at 640, 107 S.Ct. 3034. The Eighth Amendment protects prisoners, and thus detainees, from an official's deliberate indifference to conditions posing an unreasonable risk of serious damage to the prisoner's future health. Henderson, 196 F.3d at 847 (citing Helling, 509 U.S. at 33-35, 113 S.Ct. 2475). We have previously stated that [d]ental care is one of the most important medical needs of inmates. Wynn, 251 F.3d at 593 (quoting Ramos, 639 F.2d at 576). Because dental care is a basic human need and the constitutional test requires us to look at the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society, Rhodes v. Chapman, 452 U.S. 337, 346, 101 S.Ct. 2392, 69 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981), Farnham was or should have been on notice and had fair warning that it would be unconstitutional for him to deny oral hygiene products to pretrial detainees under his watch for long periods of time. Hope, 536 U.S. at 741, 122 S.Ct. 2508. We hold that the district court did not err in denying qualified immunity to Farnham based on the alleged denial of toothpaste to Duke and Jerry Board for three-and-a-half weeks and approximately 113 days respectively.