Childress v. Walker

Dist. Ct. erred in dismissing plaintiff-prisoner’s section 1983 action alleging that defendants-prison administrators violated his 8th Amendment rights by: (1) placing computer disk in his exit property from prison knowing that one condition of his supervised release prohibited possession of computer-related materials; and (2) subsequent discovery of disk by authorities resulted in plaintiff’s re-incarceration, which in turn, resulted in plaintiff serving more time in jail than what he should have served. Plaintiff’s allegations were sufficient to state viable 8th Amendment claim, at least with respect to defendant-assistant warden who allegedly knew of prison practice of placing similar disk in property of other inmates, and who was aware that said practice put other inmates in jeopardy who had restrictions on possession of computer-related materials. Moreover, Dist. Ct. should have allowed plaintiff to file amended complaint with respect to other defendants to assert claims regarding their alleged knowledge of prison’s practices and of plaintiff’s conditions of supervised release.