Cite as: 536 U. S. 730 (2002)
Thomas, J., dissenting
food, water, and any opportunities to use bathroom facilities. See Whitson v. Gillikin, No. CV-93-H-1517-NE (Jan. 24, 1994), p. 7, App. 81. As a result of being handcuffed to the bar, the prisoner "suffered lacerations, pain, and swelling in his arms." Id., at 85. The District Court, without deciding whether the defendants' conduct violated the Eighth Amendment, held that "there was no clearly established law identifying [their behavior] as unconstitutional." Id., at 88.
Federal District Courts in five other Alabama cases decided before 1995 similarly rejected claims that handcuffing a prisoner to a restraining bar or other stationary object violated the Eighth Amendment. See, e. g., Ashby v. Dees, No. CV-94-U-0605-NE (ND Ala., Dec. 27, 1994) (fence); Vinson v. Thompson, No. CV-94-A-268-N (MD Ala., Dec. 9, 1994) (restraining bar); Hollis v. Folsom, No. CV-94- T-0052-N (MD Ala., Nov. 4, 1994) (fence); Williamson v. Anderson, No. CV-92-H-675-N (MD Ala., Aug. 18, 1993) (fence); Dale v. Murphy, No. CV-85-1091-H-S (SD Ala., Feb. 4, 1986) (light pole).11 By contrast, petitioner is unable to point to any Alabama decision issued before respondents
11 The Court's attempt to distinguish away all of these decisions only serves to undermine further its qualified immunity analysis. The Court appears to suggest that affixing a prisoner to a restraining bar is not clearly unlawful so long as (1) guards provide the prisoner with water and regular bathroom breaks, or (2) the prisoner is placed on the restraining bar as a result of his refusal to work. See ante, at 747, n. 12. But as previously explained, see supra, at 756, petitioner was offered water and bathroom breaks every 15 minutes during his May 11 stay on the bar, and there has never been any allegation either that respondents McClaran and Pelzer were involved at all in the June 7 incident or that respondent Gates was responsible for denying petitioner water or bathroom breaks on that date. As a result, even under the Court's own view of the law, respondents are entitled to qualified immunity. Moreover, the Court nowhere explains how respondents were supposed to figure out in 1995 that it was permissible to affix prisoners to a restraining bar if they refused to work but it was unlawful to do so if they were disruptive while on work duty. The claim that such a distinction was clearly established in Eighth Amendment jurisprudence at that time is nothing short of incredible.
757
Page: Index Previous 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007