Moderwell v. Cuyahoga County, Ohio
6th Cir. No. 20-3879
Rights Behind Bars has won an appeal in the Sixth Circuit on behalf of Larry Johnson, a pretrial detainee at Cuyahoga County Correctional Center in Cleveland who committed suicide under the watch of corrections officers. Johnson was flagged as suicidal upon intake, and reiterated to a nurse that he was suicidal again three days later. No action was taken in response to care for him as he awaited trial. Despite knowing he was suicidal, the jail placed him in solitary confinement where he was later found hanging in his cell.
Defendants moved for judgment on the pleadings on the basis of qualified immunity, which the district court denied. Citing our Supreme Court win in Taylor v. Riojas, the Sixth Circuit denied qualified immunity on the grounds that Defendants’ actions were so egregious that any reasonable officer should have realized that their treatment of Johnson violated the Constitution.
RBB is proud to have represented Mr. Johnson’s family on appeal and grateful that their case can move forward.
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