Daniels v. Williams
United States Supreme Court
474 U.S. 327 (1986)
Relevant factsFree
Daniels (plaintiff), a city jail inmate, sued deputy Williams (defendant) under § 1983 after slipping on a pillow Williams had negligently left on the prison stairs, claiming this negligence deprived him of his Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest in freedom from bodily harm; the district court granted Williams summary judgment, and the court of appeals affirmed.
IssueFree
Whether an action seeking damages for a government official's alleged deprivation of an individual's liberty interests under the Due Process Clause may be sustained upon a showing that the government official merely acted with negligence.