By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//August 5, 2013//
By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//August 5, 2013//
United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
Civil
Civil Rights — Eighth Amendment — deliberate indifference
Prison staff did not violate a prisoner’s rights by requiring him to wear leg irons on his swollen and possibly cancerous legs whenever he was transported from the facility.
“But the only evidence in the record relating to the substance of McAdory’s conversation with Dr. Bednarz indicates that McAdory told the doctor that he ‘would not change Mr. McGee’s status regarding the leg iron requirement without a medical order’ (emphasis supplied), because, according to McAdory, McGee had previously escaped from a pair of handcuffs. McAdory Aff. (A-215) ¶ 5. And McAdory ‘did not ever receive an order from medical staff that Mr. McGee should be excused from complying with the leg iron policy.’ Id. ¶ 6. Even when viewed in the light most favorable to McGee, this evidence shows that McAdory was willing to displace Rushville’s security policy in favor of McGee’s medical needs if a doctor believed it was necessary. None did—and McAdory was entitled to rely on the Medical Professional Defendants’ decision not to order that McGee be exempt from wearing metal leg restraints. McGee’s argument—that McAdory somehow overruled the Medical Professional Defendants or prohibited them from ordering an exemption for McGee—has no evidentiary basis in the record. See Montgomery v. American Airlines, Inc., 626 F.3d 382, 389 (7th Cir. 2010) (‘[U]ncorroborated, self-serving testimony, if based on personal knowledge or firsthand experience, may prevent summary judgment … . But mere conclusory allegations do not constitute evidence.’) (internal citations omitted). Therefore, because the record shows that McAdory reasonably relied on the medical professionals’ determinations, he was not deliberately indifferent to McGee’s needs, and the trial court correctly granted summary judgment in his favor.”
Affirmed.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Baker, J., Tharp, J.