Gruenberg v. Gempeler, No. 10-3391 (7th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseGruenberg, who has accrued 230 misconduct reports since his incarceration for burglary in 1999, seized a set of keys from a prison guard and swallowed them. He was taken to a hospital, where an x-ray showed that the keys were lodged in his abdomen. A physician told the prison officials that Gruenberg would probably pass the keys naturally within five days. They returned him to the prison and kept Gruenberg naked and in restraints for five days until he passed the keys. After five days, Gruenberg had not yet passed them and surgery was needed to remove them. Gruenberg sued, claiming violation of his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, citing qualified immunity. While the conditions were undoubtedly uncomfortable, there was no evidence that any member of the prison staff showed “deliberate indifference” to Gruenberg’s health or safety. Those conditions were a reasonable response to a “unique situation.”
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