Opinion ID: 204108
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dennehy

Text: The Moshers contend that Commissioner Dennehy violated their son’s Fourteenth Amendment due process rights by supervisory acquiescence and gross negligence in understaffing the Max 2 unit at BSH. The Moshers contend BSH was understaffed in 2004, when their son was murdered, that the Max 2 unit should have had five or six officers, and that understaffing was a system-wide problem for the Department of Corrections. At the time of the murder, however, -14- the BSH staffing analysis required three officers in Max 2, and four officers were on duty. Without accepting the proposition that understaffing alone can establish deliberate indifference, on the facts here, a reasonable official in Dennehy’s position could have reasonably believed that staffing that met the BSH recommendations was sufficient to avoid constitutional violations. Therefore, Dennehy is entitled to qualified immunity.