Court Opinion

ID: 9496755
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:34:45.02264+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:46.999742
License: Public Domain

ROGERS, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
CONCURRENCE
I concur in the majority’s judgment and almost totally in its reasoning. My one reservation concerns the first complaint allegation discussed by the majority: that because of Hearlson’s previous stint in protective custody, BOP officials knew or should have known that Hearlson was in danger and failed to provide him reasonable protection. With respect, the issue for discretionary function exception purposes is not whether there is sufficient support for the allegation, nor is the issue the specificity or immediacy of the threat. Instead, the relevant question is whether the ongoing determination of where Hearl-son would be placed was the type of agency decision-making that takes broad agency policies into account. In short, the relevant inquiry is the nature of the decision-making process, not the nature of the threat. I agree, however, that there is nothing about this allegation that rebuts the presumption that the prison officials’ decisions regarding Hearlson’s safety were the type of decision that is grounded in policy.