Robert C. McMath v. Julio de Lima Silva

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin partially grants the defendant’s motion for summary judgment in Robert McMath’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action. The court dismisses McMath’s First Amendment retaliation claim but finds factual disputes requiring trial on his Eighth Amendment failure-to-protect claim. The court also grants McMath’s motion to recruit counsel for trial.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment was improper because evidence, viewed in McMath's favor, could allow a jury to find that a substantial risk of serious harm existed, that Sgt. de Lima Silva recognized the risk, and that he was deliberately indifferent by allowing Parker to enter the cell.
2. Sgt. de Lima Silva was not entitled to qualified immunity at the summary-judgment stage because, if McMath's version of events were accepted, the conduct violated a clearly established Eighth Amendment right.
3. Defendant was entitled to summary judgment on McMath's First Amendment retaliation claim because McMath offered no evidence, beyond speculation, that his inmate complaints motivated Sgt. de Lima Silva's conduct.

Questions Presented

1. Whether genuine disputes of material fact precluded summary judgment on McMath's Eighth Amendment failure-to-protect claim.
2. Whether Sgt. de Lima Silva was entitled to qualified immunity on the Eighth Amendment claim.
3. Whether McMath produced evidence sufficient to create a genuine dispute that his protected inmate complaint was a motivating factor in Sgt. de Lima Silva's allegedly retaliatory conduct.
4. Whether defendant was entitled to summary judgment on the First Amendment retaliation claim.

Disposition

other