Jamey L. Wilkins v. Officer Gaddy (559 U.S. 34)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 22, 2010 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 559 U.S. 34 · 130 S. Ct. 1175
- Decided
- February 22, 2010
- Term
- October Term 2009
- Vote
- 9–0
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Per Curiam. In Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U. S. 1, 4 (1992), this Court held that “the use of excessive physical force against a prisoner may constitute cruel and unusual punishment [even] when the inmate does not suffer serious injury.” In this ease, the District Court dismissed a prisoner’s excessive force claim based entirely on its determination that his injuries were “de minimis.” Because the District Court’s approach, affirmed on appeal, is at odds with Hudson’s direction to decide excessive force claims based on the nature of the force rather than the extent of the injury, the petition for certiorari is granted, and the judgment is reversed. I In March 2008, petitioner Jamey Wilkins, a North Carolina state prisoner, filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina pursuant to Rev. Stat. § 1979,42 U. S. C. § 1983. Wilkins’ pro se complaint alleged that, on June 13,2007, he was “maliciously and sadistically” assaulted “[without any provocation” by a corrections officer, respondent Gaddy. App. to Pet. for Cert. C-4. According to the complaint, Gaddy, apparently angered by Wilkins’ request for a grievance form, “snatched [Wilkins] off the ground and slammed him onto the concrete floor.” Ibid. Gaddy “then proceeded to punch, kick, knee and choke [Wilkins] until another officer had to physically remove him from [Wilkins].” Ibid. Wilkins…
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