ALBERT RUSSELL, APPELLANT,
v.
C. C. SHEFFER, SUPERINTENDENT BOTETOURT CORRECTIONAL UNIT, AND CAROLYN MAUPIN, L.P.N., BOTETOURT CORRECTIONAL UNIT, APPELLEES

4th Cir. | 1975-12-19
No. 75-1423
Before RUSSELL, FIELD, and WIDENER, Circuit Judges.
528 F.2d 318 United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1975) Positive Treatment
Cited by 10 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

A prisoner's claims of inadequate medical treatment must rise to the level of cruel and unusual punishment to be actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.


Facts & Procedural History

Plaintiff, an incarcerated individual, sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging denial of adequate medical treatment. The district court granted summary j…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM:

PER CURIAM:

Albert Russell instituted an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming that he was being denied adequate medical treatment while incarcerated at Botetourt Correctional Field Unit. The District Court, on the basis of affidavits and exhibits, granted summary judgment for the defendants. We affirm.

Prisoners are entitled to reasonable medical care. Blanks v. Cunningham, 409 F. 2d 220 (4th Cir. 1969); Hirons v. Director, 351 F. 2d 613 (4th Cir. 1965). However, mistreatment or non-treatment must be capable of characterization as “cruel and unusual punishment” in order to present a colorable claim under § 1983. Gittlemacker v. Prasse, 428 F. 2d 1, 6 (3rd Cir. 1970). The prisoner’s allegations must reach constitutional dimension before a federal court will interfere with the internal operations of a state penal facility. Hirons v. Director, 351 F. 2d 613 (4th Cir. 1965).

Russell’s claims do not rise to this level. The affidavits submitted to the District Court reflect that Russell was under constant medical supervision from the time of his arrival at Botetourt. Questions of medical judgment are not subject to judicial review. Shields v. Kunkel, 442 F. 2d 409 (9th Cir. 1971).

Accordingly, the judgment of the District Court is affirmed.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw