Opinion ID: 775041
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Awareness of the Substantial Risk

Text: 46 Plaintiff claims that, once Matt covered his cell openings with toilet paper, the guards were aware of the substantial risk that Matt would commit suicide. She asserts that the guards already knew: 1) that Matt had written a last will and testament contemplating his imminent death and telling his mother how to carry on his affairs after he died; 2) that Matt told certain guards that he planned to commit suicide; 3) that he had attempted suicide in the past; 4) that he had a long history of mental illness; 5) that he was not eating and was dangerously thin; and 6) that his mother had called the prison to alert them that he was paranoid, suicidal, and in trouble. 47 It seems quite possible that, under the facts as alleged by the plaintiff, the guards could have been aware of the risk that Matt would commit suicide. Particularly if Matt told them that he was suicidal, that alone should have been enough to impute awareness of a substantial risk of suicide. Turbin, 226 F.3d at 529. It is true that strange behavior alone, without indications that that behavior has a substantial likelihood of taking a suicidal turn, is not sufficient to impute subjective knowledge of a high suicide risk to jail personnel. Id. at 530. Thus, if the inmate was a normally functioning individual with no history of mental illness or suicide attempts, who had not recently lost nearly one-third of his body weight or written letters to his mother contemplating his death, then maybe papering up his cell would not be enough to put the guards on notice that something was wrong. Matt was not a normally functioning individual, however, and it would not be inconsistent with the alleged facts to find that he did put jail officials on notice that there was a significant likelihood that he would attempt to harm himself. Id. The Eighth Amendment does not allow officials to turn a blind eye to the activities of an inmate, particularly one who is suicidal. We thus find that plaintiff's complaint should not have been dismissed because she has alleged sufficient facts that, if proven, would entitle her to relief against the WCI guards. See Hall, 957 F.2d at 405 (finding that plaintiff raised a genuine issue of material fact regarding the defendants' knowledge of Howard's suicidal tendencies); cf. Turbin, 226 F.3d at 534 (Williams, J., dissenting) ([W]e have more than Novack's strange and bizarre behavior. We also have evidence that jail officials knew that Novack was a suicide risk and had a possible mental illness.). 48 Defendants contend that they were not aware of any risk that Matt would harm himself, and assert that plaintiff cannot survive the first Farmer prong. We find their arguments unconvincing. First, defendants contend that the only way the guards would have known many of these facts is if they had read Matt's prison file, which they characterize as an unreasonable endeavor. While we do not need to address whether the guards should be familiar with the mental health histories of the prison's inmates, it seems contrary to defendants' assertions that the guards could have been aware of many of the facts alleged by plaintiff without reading Matt's file (for example: that Mrs. Sanville had called the prison to express concern over Matt's condition, and that Matt had written a last will and testament, lost a significant amount of weight, and said that he planned to commit suicide). Second, defendants allege that the fact that Matt was requesting food other than the nutri-loaf and that he had filed a complaint the week before his suicide indicates that the guards would not have thought that Matt was a substantial suicide risk. What the guards thought, however, is not an issue for us to resolve--it is an issue for a trier of fact. See Farmer, 511 U.S. at 842. Third, the defendants criticize the plaintiff for doing nothing more than alleging facts. Yet, under the requirements of notice pleading, Mrs. Sanville does not have to prove her factual and legal allegations at this stage, she need only show that relief is possible. See Conley, 355 U.S. at 45-46; Bartholet v. Reishauer A.G. (Zurich), 953 F.2d 1073, 1078 (7th Cir. 1992). Plaintiff has certainly met this standard. Of course, this is not the end of the inquiry. During discovery, the parties will undoubtedly explore in greater detail whether the prison official[s] had the requisite knowledge of a substantial risk to Matt's health. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 842. 49