Prisoner – 8th Amendment Violation

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Daniel A. Schillinger v. Josh Kiley, et al.

Case No.: 18-2404

Officials: FLAUM, SYKES, and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Prisoner – 8^th Amendment Violation

Daniel Schillinger, a Wisconsin prisoner, was brutally assaulted by another inmate as the prisoners were walking back to their housing unit after recreation. He suffered a fractured skull, broken teeth, cuts, and other serious injuries. Schillinger sued three prison guards under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating his Eighth Amendment rights by failing to protect him from the attack.

The district judge screened the complaint and permitted Schillinger to proceed on a claim that the officers failed to take preventive action after learning of hostility between Schillinger and his attacker during the recreation period shortly before the attack. The judge later ruled that Schillinger had not exhausted his administrative remedies on this claim and entered summary judgment for the defendants.

On appeal Schillinger argues that the judge should have gleaned from his complaint two additional factual grounds for a failure-to-protect claim against the officers: that they did not respond fast enough to an alarm about a medical emergency on his unit once the attack was underway and they stood by without intervening to stop the attack while it was ongoing. He also challenges the judge’s exhaustion ruling.

We reject these arguments and affirm. The judge did not overlook plausible alternative factual grounds for the claim against these defendants. And we find no fault with the judge’s exhaustion ruling. Though Schillinger pursued a complaint through all levels of the prison’s inmate complaint system, he never mentioned the claim he raised in this litigation: that the three officers were aware of threatening behavior by the attacker in the recreation area before the assault and failed to take steps to protect him.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.