New Cause of Action Adopted for Inmates Claiming Excessive Force

Article by Bernie Pazanowski for Bloomberg Law.

July 25, 2024, 3:12 PM EDT

Inmate claimed officers acted outside of prison policies
Money damages for constitutional violation is permissible

A federal prison inmate may proceed with his suit for money damages against individual officers who allegedly used excessive force against him, the Fourth Circuit said Thursday.

The government argued that Andrew Fields III’s suit for a violation of his Eighth Amendment rights wasn’t actionable under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics and its progeny in most cases.

Bivens is limited to three categories of cases, and the US Supreme Court all but closed the door to its expansion in Egbert v. Boule, which highlighted the tension between judicially created causes of action and …

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