Baca v. Starr

Issue: (1) Whether, under Ashcroft v. Iqbal, a county sheriff or other high-level supervisory official may be held liable for an Eighth Amendment violation, stemming from an assault on a prisoner perpetrated by jail inmates and guards, if the plaintiff does not allege facts showing that the sheriff actually knew of, yet failed to respond to, the particular risk of assault the plaintiff faced, and that the sheriff ’s failure to act was the cause of the plaintiff ’s injury; and (2) whether a complaint seeking to hold a high-level supervisory official liable for the acts of subordinate officials, that alleges unrelated incidents of violence over several years in a 20,000-inmate jail system, satisfies Iqbal’s plausibility requirement.

Briefs and Documents

Certiorari-stage documents

• Opinion below (9th Cir.)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition (forthcoming)
• Reply of petitioner