Lawson v. Cain

Brad Cain (defendant) was the superintendent of Oregon’s Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI). During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cain adopted a mask requirement consistent with orders from Oregon’s governor. However, staff resisted. Many of the staff lived in Idaho, where masks were not required, and they were therefore skeptical about masking. Their skepticism spread to many inmates. Although both staff and inmates were subject to discipline if they violated the masking requirement, that rule was not consistently enforced because masking was so controversial. In addition to the masking requirement, Cain required regular symptom checks of staff members. However, he did not require them to be tested for COVID-19. Cain also required inmates to report any COVID-19 symptoms, but most refused because inmates suspected of having the disease or being exposed to it were moved into isolation, which they viewed as punishment. Mark Lawson (plaintiff), a 62-year-old SRCI inmate, suffered from multiple medical conditions that gave him a high risk of serious illness or death if he contracted COVID-19. Lawson sued Cain, arguing that Cain’s insufficient measures to protect against COVID-19 violated Lawson’s right to be free from treatment with unnecessary rigor under the Oregon Constitution because the insufficient measures exposed Lawson to a serious and ongoing health hazard. Cain asserted two arguments in defense. First, he claimed that the unnecessary-rigor clause applied only to persons arrested or jailed but not yet convicted. Second, he argued that an unnecessary-rigor claim could succeed only if the plaintiff was objectively subjected to unnecessarily harmful treatment and the defendant subjectively intended that treatment or was deliberately indifferent to the treatment’s harmful consequences. By those reasonings, Cain argued that Lawson’s claim must fail both because he had already been convicted and because Cain did not subjectively intend the harmful treatment. The trial court rejected Cain’s arguments and held in Lawson’s favor, ordering Cain to propose a plan to reduce unnecessary risks of COVID-19 to medically vulnerable inmates. Cain appealed.