Sex abuse by prison guards violates incarcerated people's rights. How is that not obvious?
Julia Salazar
Jesse Shannon said he was incarcerated at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 2011 when a correction officer sexually abused him.
Shannon filed a lawsuit in 2013 against a group of prison officials, alleging that a correction officer had, on four occasions, grabbed him inappropriately and aggressively while conducting a pat frisk in an invasive manner unrelated to any legitimate search for contraband.
Shannon alleged that he reported the abuse to supervisors, but that they failed to act. On the contrary, Shannon said, they retaliated against him by fabricating a misbehavior report.
Despite his persistent efforts to protect his civil rights, Shannon was ultimately denied justice. A federal appeals court in New York dismissed his case, granting qualified immunity to the officer and the other officials.
"Although the conduct alleged in the amended complaint is reprehensible both then and now, when it occurred in 2011," the court said, "our precedent did not establish that such conduct was clearly unconstitutional."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2022/03/20/prison-guards-sex-abuse-qualified-immunity/9379739002/
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Qualified immunity is what should be unconstitutional!