Opinion ID: 788983
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Cross-appeal of summary judgment in favor of Sheriff Speybroeck

Text: 36 The plaintiffs cross-appeal the grant of summary judgment to Sheriff Speybroeck; they contend that they presented sufficient evidence to create a jury question as to Speybroeck's § 1983 liability. We review de novo the grant of summary judgment, construing the record and all reasonable inferences drawn from it in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, in this case the plaintiffs. Del Raso v. United States, 244 F.3d 567 (7th Cir.2001). Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Cengr v. Fusibond Piping Sys., Inc., 135 F.3d 445, 450 (7th Cir.1998). 37 Because Moreland was a pretrial detainee in the jail at the time of his death in custody, the plaintiffs' claim falls within the Fourteenth Amendment; however, we have previously noted that in this context a Fourteenth Amendment claim is evaluated by the same legal standards as an Eighth Amendment claim. Butera v. Cottey, 285 F.3d 601, 605 (7th Cir.2002) (citing Henderson v. Sheahan, 196 F.3d 839, 844 n. 2 (7th Cir.1999)). The plaintiffs must demonstrate that the sheriff was deliberately indifferent to Moreland's safety, that is, that the sheriff was aware of a substantial risk of serious injury [to Moreland] but nevertheless failed to take appropriate steps to protect him from a known danger. Id. This requires the plaintiffs to show that deliberate action attributable to [the sheriff] directly caused the deprivation of [Moreland's] civil rights. Id. (quoting Frake v. City of Chicago, 210 F.3d 779, 781 (7th Cir.2000)). Stated differently, the plaintiffs must demonstrate that the sheriff made a deliberate choice and that the injury was caused by the policy chosen. Id. That a different or better policy might have been used does not necessarily mean that the [Sheriff] was being deliberately indifferent. Id. 38 Unconstitutional policies for purposes of § 1983 liability fall into three categories: (1) an express policy that, when enforced, causes a constitutional deprivation; (2) a widespread practice that, although not authorized by written law or express municipal policy, is so permanent and well settled as to constitute a `custom or usage' with the force of law; or (3) an allegation that the constitutional injury was caused by a person with final policymaking authority. Butera, 285 F.3d at 605 (citing Brokaw v. Mercer Cty., 235 F.3d 1000, 1013 (7th Cir.2000)). The plaintiffs' complaint alleged that unconstitutional policies of the sheriff were partly to blame for Moreland's death, but in response to the sheriff's motion for summary judgment that claim seems to have been dropped. The plaintiffs do not now argue that the sheriff instituted policies that were reasonably certain to result in Moreland's death; indeed, their expert testified that the jail policies in force at the time were adequate. Their claim is rather that the sheriff's deputies in the jail routinely violated the department's policies, and that the sheriff was deliberately indifferent to this widespread pattern of violations. 39 In their opening brief to this court, the plaintiffs failed to discuss the facts relevant to their claim against the sheriff, relying instead almost entirely on a series of string citations to affidavits and other documents in the record. We will not scour a record to locate evidence supporting a party's legal argument. See Peters v. Renaissance Hotel Operating Co., 307 F.3d 535, 547 n. 10 (7th Cir.2002). Perfunctory or undeveloped arguments are waived. Colburn v. Trustees of Ind. Univ., 973 F.2d 581, 593 (7th Cir.1992); Hunter v. Allis-Chalmers Corp., 797 F.2d 1417 (7th Cir.1986). In their reply brief the plaintiffs have tried to flesh out their argument with a more detailed discussion of the evidence. Even if the initial underdeveloped argument is not construed as a waiver, the evidence is insufficient to raise a jury question on the plaintiffs' claim against the sheriff. 40 The plaintiffs assert ongoing violations of jail policies in three areas: (1) use of the OC-10 spray; (2) a federal order requiring the sheriff to abate overcrowding in the jail; and (3) provision of medical care to injured inmates. As to the first of these, the plaintiffs point to tabulations of reported incidents of OC-10 spray use in the jail during the years 1995 (128 incidents), 1996 (73 incidents), and 1997 (17 incidents). They argue that this evidence demonstrates that the sheriff was aware of a pattern of violations of jail policy on the use of OC-10. But the number of pepper spray incidents, without more, does not establish that pepper spray was being routinely misused or that the jail's OC-10 policy was being violated. 41 The plaintiffs also contend that a memo sent to jail personnel in 1997 regarding the filing of incident reports constitutes an admission that OC-10 reports were not being filed, in violation of department policy. This is quite a stretch. The memo specifies when officers must file incident reports as a general matter. The jail policy on pepper spray instructs personnel to file an incident report when chemical agents are used, and the memo clarifies that officers must file incident reports (presumably including OC-10 incident reports) before they go off duty from the shift during which the incident occurred. This does not constitute an admission that jail personnel were not filing OC-10 reports at all or that pepper spray was being misused. Furthermore, the memo was from the jail warden, Major William Goss, not Sheriff Speybroeck. At any rate, we fail to see how the report-filing policy or practice was likely to lead to Moreland's death. 42 The plaintiffs also claim that there were six specific incidents of improper use of OC-10 at the jail, but the record evidence at the time of summary judgment points to only three. Incident reports indicate that inmate Daniel Grimm was sprayed after kicking the door of the drunk tank, then brought to the fourth floor for a shower, then placed in a restraint chair. While restrained, he spat on an officer and was charged with felony battery with bodily waste. Grimm sustained no injuries requiring medical care. In another incident, inmate Robert Coaron freed his legs from the shackles of a restraint chair and started kicking officers and spitting in all directions. The officers warned him that he would be sprayed if he did not desist; when he continued to spit at them, Dieter sprayed him. Coaron sustained no injuries requiring medical attention. In a third incident, inmate Casimer Wawrzyniak was in the drunk tank making loud noises and kicking the door. Officers opened the door intending to remove him to another floor, Wawrzyniak rushed the door and one of the officers sprayed him. He, too, sustained no injuries requiring medical attention. 43 There is nothing in the summary judgment record to suggest that these incidents involved a violation of the jail's policy on OC-10 use in the jail. 2 Equally important, these incidents do not amount to a widespread practice that is permanent and well settled so as to constitute an unconstitutional custom or policy about which the sheriff was deliberately indifferent. In any event, to be liable, Sheriff Speybroeck must have known there was a substantial risk of serious harm to Moreland; the primary injury here is Moreland's death, not the pain he suffered when sprayed with OC-10. 44 The plaintiffs also argue that Sheriff Speybroeck's deliberate indifference to Moreland's safety is demonstrated by his knowing violation of a federal consent decree requiring him to attempt to keep the inmate population at the jail at or below 300, or 350 on weekends. The jail housed 360 inmates on the day of Moreland's death, a Friday. The plaintiffs have not linked jail overcrowding to Moreland's death. 45 Finally, the plaintiffs argue that jail personnel were inadequately trained to recognize the signs of serious head injury and otherwise respond to a medical emergency. But they have not brought forward any evidence of inadequate training with respect to inmates' medical care. The plaintiffs' expert, Dr. George Kirkham, concluded that there was a lack of training regarding the appropriate steps to be taken in a medical emergency, but he based this conclusion on the fact that Moreland himself was not treated adequately. There is no evidence that the policies, customs, or practices of the department were deficient. One cannot infer a custom or practice from a single incident. 46 The plaintiffs cite Woodward v. Correctional Medical Services of Illinois, 368 F.3d 917, 929 (7th Cir.2004) for the proposition that a single violation of federal rights can trigger § 1983 under Monell v. New York City Dep't of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978) if the violation was a highly predictable consequence of the failure to act. But Woodward does not relieve the plaintiff from the requirement of showing that an unconstitutional policy, custom, or practice existed at the time the plaintiff's rights were violated; it says only that the plaintiff need not show that the policy, practice, or custom resulted in past deprivations of rights. Woodward, 368 F.3d at 929.