Eighth Amendment Violation

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Daniel Aguilar v. Janella Gaston-Camara, et al.

Case No.: 15-3894

Officials: EASTERBROOK, ROVNER, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Eighth Amendment Violation

The plaintiff, Daniel Aguilar, an inmate under the supervision of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (“DOC”), filed a pro se complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that beginning in October 2012 he was confined for 90 days without a hearing based on a purported violation of extended supervision. He argued that as a person who was released from prison on parole status rather than extended supervision status, his confinement under the extended supervision provisions denied him the procedures that are afforded to parolees, in violation of the Due Process Clause, and violated his rights under the Eighth Amendment.

At best, Aguilar’s evidence that the documents improperly listed him as under extended supervision, and that the dates of the criminal case—if considered—would have allowed defendants Gaston-Camara, Haessig, and Yeates, to deduce the misclassification, allow an inference of negligence. But that is insufficient for both the Eighth Amendment and the Due Process claims. As stated above, the Eighth Amendment is violated by acts or omissions that exhibit deliberate indifference; mere negligence is insufficient. Armata, 766 F.3d at 721. Similarly, negligent conduct by a state official does not implicate the Due Process Clause. Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 333–34 (1986); Kingsley v. Hendrickson, 135 S. Ct. 2466, 2472 (2015)(“‘liability for negligently inflicted harm is categorically beneath the threshold of constitutional due process.’”)(quoting County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833, 849 (1998)); Davis v. Wessel, 792 F.3d 793, 801 (7th Cir. 2015)(same). Aguilar in his due process challenge asserts that the misclassification and the failure to correct it denied him procedural protections to which he was entitled. The district court denied the claim because it held that Aguilar’s evidence supported only a claim of negligent conduct. As we discussed, the evidence even considering the proposed statement from Saldana, does not suggest more than negligence, and that is insufficient to support a due process claim just as it fails to support the Eighth Amendment claim. Accordingly, the district court properly granted summary judgment to the defendants.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.