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Ninth Circuit allows for Bivens suit against operator of private federal prison

By Douglas A. Berman

Addressing an issue that has the smell of a future cert grant, a Ninth Circuit panel today in Pollard v. Geo Group, Inc., No. 07-16112 (9th Cir. June 7, 2010) (available here) allows a Bivens action to go forward against the operators of a private prison. Here is how the majority opinion starts: Plaintiff-Appellant Richard Lee Pollard, a federal inmate, appeals the district court?s order dismissing his Eighth Amendment claims against employees of a private corporation operating a federal prison under contract with the Bureau of Prisons.  This appeal presents the question of whether the implied damages action first recognized in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), allows a federal prisoner to recover for violations of his constitutional rights by employees of private corporations operating federal prisons...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 07, 2010 (boomark / email).