Case Summaries: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (Dec. 2021)

This post summarizes published criminal and related decisions released by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals during December 2021. Decisions that may be of interest to state practitioners are summarized monthly. Previous Fourth Circuit summaries are available here. Plaintiff failed to exhaust administrative remedies for alleged due process violation and failed to plead deliberate indifference for cruel and unusual punishment claim; summary judgment to defendants affirmed Moss v. Harwood, 19 F.4th 614 (Dec. 2, 2021). The plaintiff was arrested in Madison County, North Carolina and taken into custody. During his pretrial detention, prison officials found a weapon in his cell and placed him into disciplinary segregation (or “lockdown”). The plaintiff was kept in lockdown for over two months. No disciplinary hearing was ever conducted despite jail policies requiring such a proceeding. The plaintiff also alleged that prison officials failed to ensure he received necessary medication during his detention. While in lockdown, he sued pro se in the Western District of North Carolina, claiming a due process violations based on his placement in lockdown without a hearing, as well as deliberate indifference by prison officials towards his medical needs. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants. On appeal, the Fourth Circuit unanimously affirmed. The district court correctly found that the plaintiff failed to exhaust administrative remedies within the prison system as to his pretrial detention claim. The record was clear that the plaintiff had access to the prison complaint process while in segregation, and that he successfully availed himself to [...]