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CA8: Arrestee cannot be transported in K-9's cage in police car

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

It violates due process to transport a presumed innocent arrestee in the K-9 dog cage of the back of the police car with dog hair and dried urine and feces. Defendant's claim of legitimate penological interest is rejected on the totality of the circumstances, and qualified immunity denied. Morris v. Zefferi, 08-3141 (8th Cir. April 13, 2010)*: Because Morris was a pretrial detainee at the time of the alleged violation of his constitutional rights, we analyze Morris’s claim against Zefferi under the Fourteenth Amendment, rather than the Eighth Amendment. See Owens v. Scott County Jail, 328 F.3d 1026, 1027 (8th Cir. 2003) (citing Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 535 n.16 (1979)). Under the Fourteenth Amendment, a pretrial detainee’s constitutional rights are violated if the detainee’s conditions of confinement amount to punishment...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 13, 2010 (boomark / email).