Plaintiff filed a lawsuit seeking damages after medical personnel at a federal prison camp failed to properly and timely diagnose plaintiff’s appendicitis. Plaintiff brought the lawsuit under the doctrine of Bivens, which created an extra-statutory claim for damages against federal agents who violate the Fourth Amendment in the course of an arrest. The district court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that it presented a context to which Bivens did not extend, and plaintiff appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part, finding that plaintiff’s claims against three defendants who actually treated plaintiff were legally viable but that the claims against two supervisors who did not provide any medical treatment were not viable under Bivens and its progeny. (PRYOR and KOLAR, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Extra-Statutory Damages