By: Derek Hawkins//October 23, 2018//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Laera D. Reed, et al. v. Charles Palmer
Case No.: 18-1429; 18-1438
Officials: FLAUM, MANION, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Qualified Immunity
The State of Iowa declared Laera Reed and Paige Ray-Cluney delinquent youths and sent them to a juvenile institution in Wisconsin. Plaintiffs filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against multiple Wisconsin officials and Charles Palmer, the Director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, alleging they suffered from the excessive use of isolation cells and excessive force. A district court in the Western District of Wisconsin dismissed plaintiffs’ claims against Palmer at the pleading stage on the basis of qualified immunity, and plaintiffs now appeal. For the reasons below, we reverse.
Reversed and Remanded