Andrews v. Schafer

Defendant was committed to the custody of the Missouri Department of Mental Health for treatment after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity under Missouri state law when he fired shots in the direction of two officers. Plaintiff filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action against defendants, alleging that he had been deprived of his substantive due process right to liberty during his in-patient commitment as well as during his period of conditional release. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants based on qualified immunity, holding that the evidence viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff did not show that defendants' actions "shocked the conscience." In this case, plaintiff gave no reason to believe any medical opinion was offered in bad faith and the evidence did not suggest that any of defendants' representations to the circuit court were inspired by malice or otherwise untruthful. Furthermore, the ultimate decision to grant release lay with the circuit court and it repeatedly declined to grant release. View "Andrews v. Schafer" on Justia Law