The Supreme Court issued an opinion Monday rejecting a prisoner seeking to sue prison officials for damages for use of excessive force in a case that could have opened a can of worms for law enforcement seeking to maintain order among inmates.
The court's opinion to reject a Virginia prisoner's claim to an Eighth Amendment violation was sent back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit for further proceedings.
The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution covers "freedom from excessive bail, fines, and cruel punishments."
But Monday's decision rejecting the Virginia prisoner's case finds he cannot sue federal prison officials for use of excessive force under the past precedent of the 1971 decision in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents.
"For the past 45 years, this court has consistently declined to extend Bivens to new contexts," the unsigned Supreme Court opinion concluded. "We do the same here."
Andrew Fields alleged officers at the U.S. Penitentiary in Lee County, Virginia, repeatedly "kicked and punched" him and "rammed" his head into a wall with a police shield.
The 1971 Bivens case allowed a Brooklyn man sue for damages for violating his Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Notably, three Proud Boys jailed of Jan. 6, 2021, sued former President Joe Biden's Justice Department and FBI agents for $100 million, citing the Bivens precedent, The Hill reported.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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