Farmer V Brennan Case Study

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According to the Eighth Amendment, cruel and unusual punishment is prohibited. For this prohibition to be significant throughout society in which confinement is the essential method of criminal penalty, it is essential to establish when prison conditions are cruel and brutal.
While prisoners may have lost their rights to freedom in the light of their crime and conviction, despite everything, they remain to hold the same constitutional rights as free citizens do, with certain exceptions. The special cases include rights that would cause disagreement with the prison facility and system’s ability to safely, adequately, and proficiently run the establishment, those that would risk the wellbeing of the staff, the public and/or others near. The …show more content…

Brennan, Farmer was transferred to Penitentiary where he was placed in a general male population. Within two weeks, he was allegedly beaten and raped and preceeded to sue claiming that prison officials deliberately and indifferently failed to protect him as a prisoner. As mentioned above in regards to Farmer v. Brennan, “It is not enough for liability that ‘the risk was so obvious that a reasonable person should have noticed it.” (delCarmen, Ritter, & Witt, 2005, p. 115). In addition, the inmate has to show proof that the prison guards had knowledge and ignored the injury and harm.
Farmer v. Brennan (1994) could be utilized to strengthen and weaken the inmate’s case. It can be strengthened, by focusing on the way the prisoner was mistreated, abused, and assaulted for two weeks of time after having the prison guards have already been informed of the abuse against him by the other inmates and requesting a transfer to avoid the ongoing …show more content…

Brennan (1994) by it specifically setting an example that a prison official or guard is not reliable for any harm caused to an inmate by others unless it is proven that “the official knows of and disregards an excessive risk of harm to an inmate” (delCarmen, Ritter, & Witt, 2005, p. 115). A downfall could involve the defense arguing that the prison guards were informed only of concerns related to hazing and that the behavior is usual towards new inmates who enter the institution. They also can cite that there was no previous occurrence reported or accounted for by inmates. With a situation as such never happening due to past rituals of inmates entering prison, using the assumption of the prison guards not having any knowledge the inmate suffering from the assaults and abuse can be used against him in the case as