Johnson v. Leonard

Plaintiff, a pretrial detainee, filed suit against defendants under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that defendants deprived him of dental care in violation of the Eighth Amendment. In this case, plaintiff suffered from multiple cavities and tooth pain. The district court ultimately granted summary judgment to defendants.The Eighth Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in setting aside the entry of default against Defendant Collier where Collier had a meritorious defense and plaintiff was not significantly prejudiced. The court also held that plaintiff failed to meet the substantial evidentiary threshold required to show that the MEND Defendants and Collier were deliberately indifferent. In this case, defendants regularly responded to plaintiff's sick calls and followed protocol. Furthermore, any delay in permanently filling plaintiff's cavities did not show any unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain that was sufficiently harmful to evidence deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. View "Johnson v. Leonard" on Justia Law