July 07th, 2017

​Rivera v. Bonner

Docket: 16-10675
Opinion Date: July 6, 2017
Judge: Edward C. Prado
Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law

After an officer of the county jail sexually assaulted plaintiff, she filed suit against the officers and others under 42 U.S.C. 1983. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment and dismissal of plaintiff's claims, holding that the county sheriff and the jail administrator were not deliberately indifferent to known or obvious risks associated with hiring the officers. Therefore, the district court did not err in holding that they were entitled to qualified immunity on this claim. The court also held that the district court did not err in concluding that defendants were entitled to qualified immunity with respect to plaintiff's inadequate training and supervision claims. In this case, it was not clearly established at the time of the alleged misconduct that the county sheriff and the jail administrator needed to make significant changes to their training, supervision, and policies in response to the incident of sexual abuse.