NCJ Number
127869
Journal
Detention Reporter Issue: 40 Dated: (February 1987) Pages: 3-14
Editor(s)
R Miller
Date Published
1987
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article provides brief summaries of court decisions from 1961 to 1986 that pertain to governmental liability in the law enforcement and corrections fields.
Abstract
Some of the more recent decisions indicate that a sheriff's department may be held liable under negligence theory for the release of an indigent person and that liability sometimes hinges on prison administrators' prior knowledge. Other decisions indicate that State statutes preventing lawsuits during confinement may be unconstitutional, that punitive damages may be assessed against prison guards, that a city is not necessarily liable for prisoner suicide, that officials may be held liable for acts of escapees, and that police officers may be held liable for beating mentally ill arrestees. The U.S. Supreme Court has limited municipal liability for police acts, has denied absolute judicial immunity to members of disciplinary hearing boards, and has ruled that prisoners may not use civil rights actions to sue prison officials for negligence. A total of 39 case law summaries are included.