Sullivan

Sullivan v. Lake County

Good Law
91 F. App'x 582
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitMarch 22, 2004No. 03-15330California341 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM *

Plaintiffs, who are the heirs of James Sullivan, appeal from a grant of summary judgment in favor of all Defendants in this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . On de novo review, and construing the facts in Plaintiffs’ favor, we affirm.

*583 1. The jail took several steps to assess Sullivan’s possible risk of suicide, including engaging a physician’s assistant who was trained in suicide prevention to perform an intake interview. Jail personnel also observed Sullivan frequently and closely, finding nothing amiss. Sadly, despite those precautions, Sullivan committed suicide while in jail.

Plaintiffs argue that the county is liable because its failure to train jail personnel more fully about applicable risks of suicide, and its failure to train them in accordance with a private contractor’s proposal to the county, amounted to “deliberate indifference to the rights” of incarcerated persons such as Sullivan. City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 388 , 109 S.Ct. 1197 , 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989). We disagree. Nothing in the record suggests that the existing procedures fell below a reasonable level of care, much less that they were constitutionally deficient or that only the…

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