Marsh v. Phelps County

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The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the County and others in a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action alleging that plaintiff was sexually assaulted by former corrections officer Louis Campana. The court held that the claims against the County were properly dismissed where plaintiff failed to show that the County itself caused the constitutional violation at issue; nothing in the record established that any failure to train Campana caused him to assault plaintiff or that the County was deliberately indifferent to plaintiff's rights; two supervisors' negligence was not sufficient to establish section 1983 liability; a reasonable officer in Sheriff Samuelson's position would not have known that he needed to more closely supervise Campana, and the Sheriff was entitled to qualified immunity; and a reasonable officer in Defendant Gregg's position would not have concluded on this record that Campana posed an obvious risk to commit sexual assault. View "Marsh v. Phelps County" on Justia Law