Richardson v. Runnels
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
594 F.3d 666 (2010)
- Written by Jamie Milne, JD
Facts
DeWayne Richardson (plaintiff) was an inmate at a high-security unit in a California prison. On multiple occasions, one or two Black inmates in the unit attacked a correctional officer. Each time, prison officials responded by placing all Black inmates in the unit, including Richardson, in lockdown. Richardson sued prison warden D.L. Runnels and other prison officials (collectively, officials) (defendants), alleging that they violated his constitutional equal-protection right by engaging in racial discrimination. He claimed that he and the other nonattacking Black inmates were placed in lockdown solely because of an assumption that they were associated with the attacking inmates because of their race. The district court granted summary judgment in the officials’ favor. Richardson appealed. At oral argument during the appeal, the officials’ counsel admitted that placing all Black inmates in lockdown was a race-based security decision and failed to offer any explanation for that decision.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Noonan, J.)
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