Supreme Court rules prison inmate cannot sue federal officers for alleged assault

[In It to Win It]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rules-prison-inmate-cannot-sue-federal-officers-alleged-rcna213333

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a federal prison inmate cannot sue corrections officers for an alleged assault in which he was punched, kicked and had his face slammed into a wall.

The loss for inmate Andrew Fields is the latest setback for plaintiffs seeking to hold federal officials accountable for constitutional violations.

Although the Supreme Court allowed such claims in a 1971 ruling called Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, it has since changed course and made it almost impossible to do so in most situations.

The unsigned ruling, which had no dissents, said that if Fields' claim was allowed to move forward, it "could have negative systemic consequences for prison officials." Fields has other ways of vindicating his rights, the court added.

Fields, 53, had sought to bring a "Bivens claim" arising from the 2021 incident at a federal prison in Lee County, Virginia. He is now at a different prison in Florida.

NEWS:

The Supreme Court today delivered another blow to the ability of people to sue federal officials for constitutional violations by ruling against a prison inmate who claims he was viciously assaulted:
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

— Lawrence Hurley (@lawrencehurley.bsky.social) 2025-06-30T14:22:19.578Z

[cbabe]

1. Open season on inmates.

[JT45242]

2. Question for the legal eagles: if guards assault him, can they be prosecuted?

NOt a legal scholar and I admit I did not read the decision.

If they can be convicted of criminal behavior, could he then sue afterward?

I could see the SCOTUS in a 9-0 decision saying -- cannot sue unless it was criminal behavior. So, the inmate would have to convince a prosector to take up the case (unlikley but not impossible unless there were a string of inmates in teh infirmary or morgue from beatings from the guards).