Clifton Redman v. County of San Diego Capt. Richard Beall Lt. Robert Witcraft Sgt. Dan Canfield Deputy Gene Turner, and Does I Through Xx, Inclusive

Clifton Redman was raped while confined at the South Bay Detention Facility, a jail operated by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. Redman brought an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the County and various jail officials and employees.

The district court granted a directed verdict in favor of the defendants. The court determined that Redman had failed to present evidence sufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude that Redman had been treated with “reckless indifference” or with “callous disregard” for his safety.

We consider this case en banc after a panel decision that affirmed the district court in Redman v. County of San Diego, 896 F.2d 362 (9th Cir.1990). We borrow extensively from that decision for our statement of facts.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292 . We affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTS

In January 1983, Clifton Redman was booked into San Diego County’s South Bay Detention Facility where he was held as a pretrial detainee. Upon arrival Redman, then eighteen years old, was placed in a receiving module designated as a “young and tender” unit. 1 Redman was 5’6” tall and weighed approximately 130 pounds. He had no prior criminal…

with whom Circuit Judge ALARCON, joins, Dissenting:

This case is laden with terms intended to evoke an emotional response. Jail officials ^placed an “aggressive” homosexual, who is a “registrable sex offender,” in the same cell with a “young and tender” plaintiff. I agree with the majority that a pretrial detainee must show conduct amounting to deliberate indifference to pursue a section 1983 action. To apply this standard, however, we need to look beyond the labels and examine the evidence.

The evidence presented by Redman does not approach the requisite level of culpability adopted by this court today. There has been no showing that the County or the individual defendants acted with deliberate indifference to Redman’s right to personal security. Further, Redman failed to present evidence that his injuries were *1450 caused by action taken pursuant to a “policy” or “custom” promulgated by the County of San Diego (“County”) or any particular policymaker. In fact, the evidence shows that jail officials acted in contravention of the County’s policy regarding inmate segregation and placements. Although jail officials may have erred by assigning Redman to Clark’s cell, they were not…

Dissenting:

I agree with the general approach of the majority to the legal standards, but, as Judge Thompson so eloquently points out, its application of the standards seems to suggest that a policy of placing all inmates in the general population unless there is some clear indication that the person is a danger or in danger amounts to deliberate indifference. In other words, it seems to suggest that those who run jail facilities must either segregate everyone from everyone else, or prove that there is no danger from mixing them. If that is what is meant, I cannot agree, for it smacks of the kind of judicial intrusion into the management of the jail system that we should eschew.

Moreover, I do agree that if a policy or custom called for the placement of known physically violent inmates with others who are known to be vulnerable to violence, there would, at the very least, be a jury question on the issue of deliberate indifference. Furthermore, if that policy or custom were caused by the dangerous overcrowding of the facility, I should think that, absent evidence to the contrary, a jury could infer knowledge and acquiescence by the policymakers in the decision to allow the…

942 F.2d 1435 60 USLW 2218 Clifton REDMAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO; Capt. Richard Beall; Lt. Robert Witcraft; Sgt. Dan Canfield; Deputy Gene Turner, and Does I through XX, Inclusive, Defendants-Appellees. No. 87-6139. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued En Banc and Submitted Oct. 11, 1990. Decided Aug. 26, 1991. William D. Daley, Murphy & Daley, Chula Vista, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant. Nathan C. Northup, Deputy County Counsel, San Diego, Cal., for defendants-appellees. Betty Wheeler, American Civil Liberties Union, San Diego, Cal., for amicus. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Before BROWNING, GOODWIN, SCHROEDER, FLETCHER, ALARCON, REINHARDT, WIGGINS, KOZINSKI, THOMPSON, LEAVY and FERNANDEZ, Circuit Judges. LEAVY, Circuit Judge: 1 Clifton Redman was raped while confined at the South Bay Detention Facility, a jail operated by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. Redman brought an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the County and various jail officials and employees. 2 The district court granted a directed verdict in favor of the defendants. The court determined that Redman…