Stewart
Stewart v. Stewart
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Ronnie Stewart, a prisoner in the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADOC), appeals dismissal pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) of his first amended complaint against ADOC Director Terry Stewart, Warden Harold Whitley, and Deputy Warden Bennie Rollins (collectively, the admin *22 istrators). We affirm in part and reverse in part.
Excessive Force. The district court correctly held that Stewart’s complaint fails to state an Eighth Amendment claim. When a prison official authorizes the use of excessive force against a prisoner, that official violates the prisoner’s Eighth Amendment right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment. Clement v. Gomez, 298 F.3d 898, 903 (9th Cir.2002). Force does not amount to a constitutional violation if it is “applied in a good faith effort to restore discipline and order and not ‘maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm.’ ” Id. (quoting Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 320-21 , 106 S.Ct. 1078 , 89 L.Ed.2d 251 (1986)). Thus, to survive dismissal, Stewart was required to allege that the administrators possessed malicious and sadistic intent when authorizing the use of force.