Edward Furnace v. Paul Sullivan

Plaintiff-Appellant Edward Terran Furnace appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment in Defendants-Ap-pellees’ favor. Furnace alleges that the Defendants-Appellees, who are correctional officers at the prison where Furnace was incarcerated at the time of the alleged occurrence, violated his Eighth Amendment rights by spraying him with an excessive quantity of pepper spray. Furnace also alleges that his Fourteenth Amendment rights were disregarded when the officers denied him a vegetarian breakfast.

We reverse and remand on Furnace’s Eighth Amendment claim, because the district court failed to draw all inferences in Furnace’s favor when resolving the issue of qualified immunity in a summary judgment, but we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment with respect to Furnace’s Equal Protection challenge.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

During the time period relevant to this case, Furnace was an inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP). He practices the Shetaut Neter religion, which requires its advanced practitioners to be vegetarians. As a result, Furnace was entitled to receive vegetarian meals, and he had received them without incident…