Court Opinion

ID: 9480222
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:41:29.748751+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:47:33.031491
License: Public Domain

HUG, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I write separately in affirming the judgment of the district court because I differ with Judge Farris’ analysis of the Eighth Amendment claim. I conclude that the confiscation of the sling and the long and unjustified delay in treatment to remove the broken pin did amount to deliberate indifference as discussed in Judge Reinhardt’s dissent. However, I agree to affirm because I find an insufficient basis to impose personal liability on Housewright, as the Director of the Nevada State Department of Prisons, or Sumner, as the Warden of the Nevada State Prison.
The findings of the district court indicate that there was no personal involvement in, or knowledge of, the confiscation of the sling or the delay in treatment. Sumner testified that it was against the prison policy to confiscate medically necessary equipment. The dissent contends that the failure to establish more exact guidelines to implement that policy was deliberate indifference on the part of Sumner and House-wright. More explicit guidelines may well have prevented this unfortunate exercise of judgment on the part of the guard, but I cannot categorize the lack of more explicit guidelines as rising to the level of an Eighth Amendment violation within the meaning of Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976).
Similarly, it may be desirable to have more definitive regulations concerning the acquisition of medical records so as to avoid possible delay in treatment involved. However, I cannot conclude that House-wright and Sumner were personally deliberately indifferent to the medical needs of Wood simply because they failed to have anticipated this delay problem and adopted more definitive regulations for procuring medical records more quickly.
I concur in the remainder of Judge Far-ris’ opinion and thus concur in affirming the judgment.