Opinion ID: 2770839
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: James De La Cruz

Text: As Gonzalez’s supervisor, De La Cruz also had direct interactions with the Nixon facility. Although he was based in Houston, he made several trips to Nixon. There is no evidence or justifiable inference that De La Cruz was subjectively aware of a substantial risk of harm or that he responded with deliberate indifference to any harm. Like Gonzalez, De La Cruz was aware of no more than one prior instance of physical abuse and one prior instance of sexual abuse at the time of the alleged abuse. De La Cruz had also received the warnings from Chester and Buck and was aware that Nixon had no shortage of problems. But none of these conditions created actual knowledge that there was a risk of severe sexual or physical abuse. Further, the conditions did not make a risk of abuse obvious. Thus, the plaintiffs failed to establish that De La Cruz had a subjective awareness of danger. The evidence also indicates that De La Cruz responded reasonably to the allegations of abuse. Along with Wolde and Gonzalez, he traveled to Nixon in November to review staffing concerns. The plaintiffs admit that De La Cruz visited Nixon shortly after learning of the abuse, “staying for days, working long hours.” Again, the plaintiffs assert that De La Cruz could have done more, such as implementing a response program and reducing the number of beds at the facility. These are not claims of deliberate indifference, but rather negligence, and are insufficient to establish a constitutional violation. Accordingly, De La Cruz is entitled to qualified immunity. 17 Case: 13-50890 Document: 00512906499 Page: 18 Date Filed: 01/16/2015 No. 13-50890