Wayne BOONE v. M. STALLINGS, Officer; J. Tart, Officer; S.A. Murray, Officer; K. Cortez, Nurse; Calvin Jones; Frank Bishop, Warden, and Bobby P. Shearin, Warden
No. 14-6521
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Submitted: Aug. 29, 2014. Decided: Sept. 11, 2014.
583 F. App‘x 174
Before WYNN and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Wayne Boone, a Maryland state prisoner, appeals the district court‘s order denying relief on his
The Eighth Amendment “protects inmates from inhumane treatment and conditions while imprisoned.” Williams v. Benjamin, 77 F.3d 756, 761 (4th Cir. 1996). “Eighth Amendment analysis necessitates inquiry as to whether the prison official acted with a sufficiently culpable state of mind (subjective component) and whether the deprivation suffered or injury inflicted on the inmate was sufficiently serious (objective component).” Id.
In a claim for excessive application of force, a prisoner must meet a heavy burden to satisfy the subjective component—that prison officials applied force “maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm” rather than “in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline.” Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 320-21 (1986) (internal quotation marks omitted), abrogated on other grounds by Wilkins v. Gaddy, 559 U.S. 34 (2010). In determining whether a prison official has acted with “wantonness in the infliction of pain,” Whitley, 475 U.S. at 322, courts should consider the necessity for the application of force; the relationship between the need for force and the amount of force used; the extent of the injury inflicted; the extent of the threat to the safety of the staff and other prisoners, as reasonably perceived by prison officials based on the facts known to them at the time; and the efforts, if any, taken by the officials to temper the severity of the force applied. Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 7 (1992).
The objective component of an excessive force claim is not nearly as demanding, however, because “[w]hen prison officials maliciously and sadistically use force to cause harm, contemporary standards of decency always are violated[,] whether or not significant injury is evident.” Wilkins, 130 S.Ct. at 1178 (internal quotation marks omitted).
After reviewing the record, we conclude that two material facts are in dispute. First, the parties dispute whether Officer Murray deployed the pepper spray before or after the application of the handcuffs. Our precedent establishes that the use of pepper spray on a docile prisoner could qualify as excessive force. See Iko v. Shreve, 535 F.3d 225, 239-40 (4th Cir. 2008) (finding genuine issue of material fact when prison guard deployed several bursts of pepper spray on docile prisoner); Williams, 77 F.3d at 763 (providing that “it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment for prison officials to use mace, tear gas, or other chemical agents, in quantities greater than necessary or for the sole purpose of infliction of pain” (internal quotation marks omitted)). Thus, if a jury were to believe Boone‘s allegation that he was on the ground, already restrained in handcuffs when Officer Murray deployed the pepper spray, the jury could conclude that Boone was subjected to unconstitutionally excessive force.
Next, the parties dispute whether Boone assaulted Officer Stallings and Nurse Cortez. We conclude that whether Boone committed the assaults is material to the question of whether the amount of force used was excessive. A jury could find that the amount of force used by the officers was not justified if they accepted Boone‘s allegations that he was not acting belligerently and that the officers beat him and deployed pepper spray for some other reason than to maintain or restore disci
In sum, because the record does not clearly establish whether the officers acted “maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm” or “in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline,” Whitley, 475 U.S. at 320-21, we conclude that summary judgment was not properly entered on Boone‘s excessive force claims against Officers Stallings, Tart, and Murray.
In reaching this conclusion, we of course in no way condone Boone‘s use of vulgar language and refusal to submit to handcuffs. Although Boone‘s transgressions were clear, the Eighth Amendment does not permit a correctional officer to respond to a misbehaving inmate in kind. While the officers were certainly justified in applying the amount of force necessary to restrain Boone in handcuffs, Boone has marshaled enough evidence that, if his version of events was to be believed, a jury could conclude that the officers’ response to his conduct was excessive and retaliatory rather than made in a good faith effort to maintain discipline. While we express no opinion about the ultimate merits of Boone‘s contentions, we conclude that the district court prematurely entered summary judgment on Boone‘s excessive force claims against the officers.
Accordingly, we vacate and remand for further proceedings the portion of the district court‘s order granting summary judgment on Boone‘s claims that the officers violated the Eighth Amendment by subjecting him to excessive force. We affirm the district court‘s judgment in all other respects. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED.