The HCBullet: The blog of the Attorneys at HCB

Court Dismisses Diabetic Inmate’s Deliberate Indifference Claim

October 31, 2017

Judge Sue Myerscough of the Central District of Illinois granted summary judgment in favor of Kankakee County jail administrators, correctional staff and nursing staff in Lash v. Bukowski, et al., 16-CV-2138 (C.D. Ill. Oct. 26, 2017). Plaintiff, a fifty-four (54) year old diabetic inmate, sued the Sheriff and various staff members of the Jerome Combs…

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DuPage Judge Rules that Village is Immune From Liability for Failure to Inspect and Repair Sidewalk Defect

October 17, 2017

Judge Brian R. McKillip in DuPage County granted summary judgment in favor of the Village of Itasca in Gentile v. Village of Itasca, Case No. 2016 L 157 (DuPage Co. Cir. Ct. August 11, 2017). Plaintiff, an 80-year old woman, walked her dog down a sidewalk near her home in Itasca in April 2015. She…

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Court Rules Jail Medical Staff Did Not Act With Deliberate Indifference

October 17, 2017

Judge James Shadid of the U.S. District Court of Central Illinois granted summary judgment in favor of the county jail medical staff at Jerome Combs Detention Center (“JCDC”) in Taylor v. Huffines, et al., No. 16-cv-2100. Inmate Travis Taylor claimed that his constitutional rights were violated when the staff acted with deliberate indifference to his…

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Seventh Circuit Reiterates Specificity Requirement to Overcome Defense of Qualified Immunity

September 26, 2017

On August 22, 2017, the Seventh Circuit reiterated the long-standing doctrine that qualified immunity cannot be decided at a “high level of generality,” requiring the law to have been clearly established in sufficiently similar circumstances to those facing an officer before finding officers liable for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In Green v. Newport,…

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Jail Officials and Staff Win Summary Judgment in Jail Death Case

September 26, 2017

District Court Judge Frederick Kapala granted summary judgment in favor of the jail staff on plaintiff’s Section 1983 claims arising out of the death of a jail inmate in McCann v. Ogle County, et al., No. 11 C 50125 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 18, 2017). Patrick McCann died of respiratory depression caused by an overdose of…

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