Opinion ID: 795353
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendants' State of Mind

Text: 29 Inadvertent failures to impart medical information cannot form the basis of a constitutional violation. The simple lack of due care does not make out a violation of either the substantive or procedural aspects of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Davidson v. Cannon, 474 U.S. 344, 348, 106 S.Ct. 668, 88 L.Ed.2d 677 (1986); Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 332, 106 S.Ct. 677, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986). In County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833, 118 S.Ct. 1708, 140 L.Ed.2d 1043 (1998), the Supreme Court considered what sort of executive action could qualify as a substantive due process violation. In that case, the parents of a motorcycle passenger killed in a high-speed police chase brought a § 1983 claim alleging deprivation of their son's substantive due process right to life. Id. at 837, 118 S.Ct. 1708. The Court began its analysis by reiterating that `the touchstone of due process is protection of the individual against arbitrary action of government.' Id. at 845, 118 S.Ct. 1708 (quoting Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 558, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974)) (alteration marks omitted). In the context of executive action, this means that the Due Process Clause is offended only if the government's abuse of power shocks the conscience. Id. at 846, 118 S.Ct. 1708; see also id. at 847 n. 8, 118 S.Ct. 1708 (1998) ([T]he threshold question is whether the behavior of the governmental officer is so egregious, so outrageous, that it may fairly be said to shock the contemporary conscience.). 30 In determining that injuries caused by high-speed chases do not give rise to Fourteenth Amendment liability unless the officers intend to harm the injured party, County of Sacramento recognized that the requisite state of mind for action by an executive official to satisfy the shocks the conscious test will vary according to the circumstances. Id. at 849-51, 118 S.Ct. 1708. Exigent circumstances, such as when prison officials are faced with a riot or when police encounter a situation calling for an immediate response, require that government actors make instant judgments that honor their competing obligations both to restore order and to act with restraint. In such crises, even precipitate recklessness fails to inch close enough to harmful purpose to spark the shock that implicates `the large concerns of the governors and the governed.' Id. at 853-54, 118 S.Ct. 1708 (quoting Daniels, 474 U.S. at 332, 106 S.Ct. 677). 31 By contrast, in situations where actual deliberation is possible, such as in the normal custodial circumstances of a prison, the state's duty to take responsibility for the inmates' safety and well-being `does not ordinarily clash with other equally important governmental responsibilities.' Id. at 851-52, 118 S.Ct. 1708 (quoting Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 320, 106 S.Ct. 1078, 89 L.Ed.2d 251 (1986)). As a result, forethought about an inmate's welfare is not only feasible but obligatory. Id. at 851, 118 S.Ct. 1708. 32 In establishing this dichotomy, County of Sacramento strongly suggests that in those circumstances when actual deliberation is possible, a showing of deliberate indifference will establish Fourteenth Amendment liability. See id. at 850-53, 118 S.Ct. 1708 ([L]iability for deliberate indifference to inmate welfare rests upon the luxury enjoyed by prison officials of having time to make unhurried judgments, upon the chance for repeated reflection, largely uncomplicated by the pulls of competing obligations.). Following the reasoning of County of Sacramento, we hold that in order to incur liability a prison official's failure to adequately inform a patient regarding that patient's proposed medical treatment must be done with, at a minimum, deliberate indifference to the prisoner's right to refuse treatment and that simple negligence will not suffice. 33