Excessive Force in Jail or Prison Attorneys

The 8th Amendment protects prisoners from cruel and unusual punishment by prison officials, and the Fourth Amendment protects arrestees or pre-trial detainees. To state an excessive force claim, a prisoner, arrestee, or pre-trial detainee must allege two elements, one subjective and one objective. First, the prisoner must allege that the defendant acted with a subjectively “sufficiently culpable state of mind.” Second, he must allege that the conduct was objectively “harmful enough” or “sufficiently serious” to reach constitutional dimensions. Analysis of the objective prong is “context specific,” and “depends upon the claim at issue.”

Crawford v. Cuomo, 796 F.3d 252, 256 (2d Cir. 2015) (internal citations omitted).

Next Steps --For Excessive Force in Jail or Prison

First -- When did the incident happen? This is important for purposes of filing timely notices of claim, and for statutes of limitations purposes. The sooner a prisoner writes a lawyer after the incident, the better.

Second -- How and why did the incident begin? Most altercations with corrections officers occur for a reason, some challenge to authority or refusal to comply with an order. As to the incident itself: Who hit whom where? What is the exact sequence of events? Did the prisoner resist, and if so, how? The details matter and the more information the prisoner gives, the more information the lawyer has to evaluate the strength of the case.

Illinois has a lengthy track record of police brutality and prison abuse, and Dvorak Law Offices has an excellent track record in fighting this abuse.

If you want to maximize compensation, then please reach out to the Dvorak Law Officss LLC., our civil rights attorneys have the experience & knowledge for these types of situations.