Gubanc v. Warren12/16/1998
idual defendant committed the act that caused the constitutional deprivation. Kinney v. Ohio Dept. of Adm. Serv. (1986), 30 Ohio App.3d 121, 122, 30 OBR 237, 238-239, 507 N.E.2d 399, 401-402. Plaintiff failed to demonstrate Warren's active participation in the acts that allegedly caused him to become ill. Indeed, employees of the medical staff and sheriffs deputies, not Warren, dealt with plaintiff during his stay at the jail. A lieutenant on duty, not Warren, requested his release and ordered deputies to drive him to the hospital. Because plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that Warren personally deprived him of a constitutional right, he may not maintain this Section 1983 action against Warren in his individual capacity.
Furthermore, even if plaintiff could assert a claim against defendants based on a theory of vicarious liability, he failed to demonstrate the mental state required to prove a Section 1983 claim. To maintain a Section 1983 action, a plaintiff must show (1) that the defendants acted under color of state law and (2) that the defendants acted in a manner that caused the plaintiff to be deprived of a right, privilege, or immunity secured by federal law. Gumpl v. Wilkinson (Aug. 31, 1994), Lorain App. No. 94CA005858, unreported, 1994 WL 466728. Plaintiff's complaint alleged a violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Eighth Amendment "prohibits the infliction of `cruel and unusual punishments' on those convicted of crimes; it applies to the statesthrough the Fourteenth Amendment." Id. at *2, citing Robinson v. California (1962), 370 U.S. 660, 675, 82 S.Ct. 1417, 1424-1425, 8 L.Ed.2d 758, 768. To prove a violation of the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment, plaintiff was required to demonstrate (1) that he suffered a serious deprivation of human need (the objective element) and (2) that defendants caused that deprivation by acting with deliberate indifference (the subjective element). Id,, citing Estelle v. Gamble (1976), 429 U.S. 97, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251; see, also, Farmer v. Brennan (1994), 511 U.S. 825, 833-834, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 1977, 128 L.Ed.2d 811, 823.
Plaintiff failed to demonstrate that either the medical staff or the sheriffs deputies acted with deliberate indifference in causing any deprivation. A deliberate indifference to the serious medical needs of an inmate would amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Payne v. Newburgh Hts. (Apr. 11, 1991), Cuyahoga App. No. 58380, unreported, 1991 WL 53898, citing Estelle, 429 U.S. at 104, 97 S.Ct. at 291, 50 L.Ed.2d at 260. Mere negligence, however, is not sufficient. A plaintiff must show that a prison official knew of and disregarded an excessive risk of inmate health or safety. See Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. at 834-841, 114 S.Ct. at 1977-1981, 128 L.Ed.2d at 824-827 (defining "deliberate indifference" in terms of subjective recklessness). As the United State Supreme Court noted in Farmer, "an official's failure to alleviate a significant risk that he should have perceived but did not, while no cause for commendation, cannot * * * be condemned as the infliction of punishment." Id. at 838, 114 S.Ct. at 1979, 128 L.Ed.2d at 826. Plaintiff has claimed that the medical staff and sheriffs deputies acted with deliberate indifference when they refused to provide his medication in doses that he requested and when they obtained his release from jail, drove him to the hospital, and "dumped him on the curbside, without taking any steps to escort him to the Emergency Room or to see that he received any treatment whatsoever." The fact that plaintiff was ill, however, does not demonstrate that the medical staff or deputies appreciated the seriousness of that illness. Furthermore, even i
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