Alexander

MEMORANDUM **

Appellee Alexander brought this § 1983 action in the district court alleging that Defendants Bruce and Perez used excessive force against him in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The district court denied the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the issue of qualified immunity, and they appealed. In reviewing the district court’s interlocutory order, we resolve all factual disputes in Alexander’s favor. Jeffers v. Gomez, 267 F.3d 895, 903 (9th Cir.2001) (per curiam).

Alexander’s allegations, if true, establish an Eighth Amendment violation. The dispositive question for an excessive use of force claim is not what degree of injury the inmate suffered, but rather whether the degree of force the defendants used was applied “maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm” or “in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline.” Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 6 , 112 S.Ct. 995 , 117 L.Ed.2d 156 (1992) (citation and internal quotations omitted). “The absence of serious injury is ... relevant to the Eighth Amendment inquiry but does not end it.” Id. at 7 . According to Alexander, Bruce and Perez isolated him from the other inmates and,…