deliberate indifference
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Rio Blanco County sheriff’s officials can be held liable for jail suicide, appeals court rules
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The immunity that Colorado law broadly affords to government entities does not shield employees of the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office from being sued for the death of a jail detainee, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. On her third day in the county jail, Catherine Rowell died by suicide. Sheriff’s personnel allegedly failed to…
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Federal judge green-lights jail suicide lawsuit against Saguache County for trial
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A jury will decide whether Saguache County Sheriff Dan Warwick, one of his deputies and the board of county commissioners are liable for the 2019 suicide death of Jackson Maes in the jurisdiction’s jail. In a Feb. 3 order, U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang dismissed a number of constitutional rights claims against the…
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Judge refuses to dismiss inmate’s lawsuit against prison officials who allegedly denied care
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An inmate who allegedly vomited “thick black blood” and had to be hospitalized may sue prison officials for failing to address his severe medical needs, a federal judge ruled earlier this month. John Hibbs, who is incarcerated in Fremont Correctional Facility, reportedly collapsed in February 2019. He was then transported to the hospital for internal bleeding.…
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Appeals court sides with sheriffs, counties in tossing detainee death lawsuit
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The state’s Court of Appeals has sided with Colorado’s counties and multiple sheriffs in finding Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader cannot be sued for the suicide death of a jail detainee. Unlike other wrongful death lawsuits and claims against government officials, which have a two-year filing window, state law carves out an exception for sheriffs.…
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Judge dismisses lawsuit of toothless detainee allegedly unable to eat in Jeffco jail
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A federal judge last month dismissed the claims of a toothless detainee in the Jefferson County jail who sued the sheriff and the jail’s medical and food contractors over an inability to eat the meals they provided him without his mouth bleeding or hurting. Brian L. Brackett, who entered the Jeffco jail in August 2021,…
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10th Circuit tosses Adams County detainee’s lawsuit over lack of sleep apnea machine
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A man detained in the Adams County jail did not plausibly allege sheriff’s employees and medical contractors violated his constitutional rights when they failed to provide a machine to treat his sleep apnea, the federal appeals court based in Denver ruled on Thursday. Alexander Noel Garcia sued the sheriff’s office and the jail’s medical contractor,…
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10th Circuit tosses lawsuit over inmate attack in Clear Creek jail
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The federal appeals court based in Denver agreed last month that a detainee who was attacked in the Clear Creek County jail failed to allege the sheriff and the county knew of a risk to his safety and disregarded it. Aaron Dugar claimed Sheriff Rick Albers and the board of county commissioners were liable for…
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Judge grants immunity to Jeffco deputy in jail attack lawsuit
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A Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy cannot be held liable for failing to prevent an aggressive inmate from attacking another man in the county jail, a federal judge decided last month. U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak acknowledged certain circumstances in which a prisoner can sue officials for not taking steps to stop inmate-on-inmate violence. However,…
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Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit against Jeffco, jail contractor for alleged constitutional violation
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A federal judge has refused to dismiss a man’s lawsuit against Jefferson County and its medical contractor, Wellpath, for allegedly ignoring a life-threatening dental condition during his nearly six-month stay in the jail. As part of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, jail and prison staff cannot be deliberately indifferent to a…
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Judge dismisses claims against El Paso County for jailed man’s severe infection
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A man who suffered for weeks in the El Paso County jail with a visibly-infected leg and ultimately wound up in the emergency room cannot sue jail staff for ignoring his life-threatening medical needs, a federal judge has ruled. Daniel W. Plutt was serving a 90-day sentence in the county’s Criminal Justice Center, with staff…
