This case was filed in 1987 by the ALCU of Maryland on behalf of a detainee of the King George's County jail under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming violations of plaintiff's Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights. Plaintiff was arrested on for outstanding traffic violations. He had just been released from the hospital. The plaintiff had a history of hypertension. While plaintiff was in lockup, awaiting discharge (because the warrant had been recalled), he suffered a hypertensive episode because his medication had been confiscated. The plaintiff required eight days hospitalization.

The United States Dictrict Court for the District of Maryland (Judge Joseph Howard) granted summary judgment for the Defendants on all claims. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (Judge Wilkinson) affirmed the district court's summary judgment except with regards to the question of whether or not the jail had adequately trained its staff to administer medical care under the deliberate indifference standard sufficient to establish Monell liability.

The case was remanded for consideration of the merits on these grounds, and was closed in 1991. We have no further information about this case.

Blase Kearney - 04/01/2012


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