Valentine v. Collier

The application to vacate stay presented to JUSTICE ALITO and by him referred to the Court is denied. Statement of JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, with whom JUSTICE GINSBURG joins, respecting the denial of application to vacate stay. In this lawsuit, inmates in a Texas geriatric prison allege that their facility failed to protect them from the dangers of Covid–19. The District Court heard unrebutted testimony about the imminent dangers faced by the inmates, some of whom have already died. It also heard testimony about the facility’s lackluster efforts to keep the illness from spreading and held that the facility’s inexplicable failures amounted to deliberate indifference for its elderly inmates in violation of the Eighth Amendment. On that basis, it issued an injunction requiring the prison to follow an extensive protocol, including frequent cleaning and increased education efforts. 2020 WL 1899274 (SD Tex., Apr. 16, 2020). The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stayed that injunction pending appeal, and the inmates now seek to vacate that stay in this Court. 956 F. 3d 797 (2020) (per curiam).Valentine v. Collier