Judges Candace Jackson-Akiwumi and Doris Pryor, who were each nominated by President Biden to the Seventh Circuit court of appeals, issued a 2-1 decision allowing a prisoner to present to a jury his claim that an official was deliberately indifferent to his medical needs. The official had assigned him to a second floor cell despite knowing that a nurse had restricted him to the first floor after he had surgery and was on crutches, resulting in a fall and further injury. Ttump judge Thomas Kirsch dissented. The September 2024 decision was in Nowels v Schneider.
What happened in this case?
Dionte Nowels, a Wisconsin prisoner, had knee surgery that left him with a knee brace and on crutches. A nurse put him on a medical restriction to the first floor only. Despite knowing this, a sergeant reassigned him to a second floor cell. This resulted in a fall by Nowels that caused additional serious injury to his head, back, neck, and knee, and required further surgery.
Nowels filed suit against the sergeant who moved him to the second floor for deliberate indifference to his medical needs. He also sued the nurse who handled his care after the fall, The district judge granted summary judgment in favor of the nurse, but initially denied summary judgment concerning the sergeant. As the trial date approached, however, Nowels’ attorney withdrew from the case but did not inform Nowels, When Nowels later found out, he moved to continue pursuing the case on his own.
The lower court judge, however, denied Nowels’ motion and instead effectively reconsidered his summary judgment decision as to the sergeant and granted a motion to dismiss Nowels’ claims, without giving Nowels an opportunity to respond on his own. Nowels appealed to the Seventh Circuit.
How Did Judges Jackson-Akiwumi and Pryor and the Seventh Circuit Rule and Why is it Important?
All three judges on the panel agreed that summary judgment in favor of the nurse should be upheld. Judges Jackson-Akiwumi and Pryor issued a 2-1 decision, however, to which Judge Kirsch dissented, overturning the dismissal of the caae against the sergeant and giving Newels the opportunity to present his claim to a jury. They explained that the lower court had “blindsided’ Nowels and “abused its discretion” by failing to allow Nowels to represent himself and respond to the motion against him. As the opinion concluded, Nowels “should not have had his case dismissed for lack of merit abruptly and without warning to him.”
The decision by Judges Jackson-Akiwumi and Pryor was obviously important to Dionte Nowels, who will now have the opportunity to obtain justice on his claim of deliberate indifference to his medical needs. It also sets a useful precedent in such cases in the Seventh Circuit, which includes Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. It also provides an example of the importance of promptly confirming fair-minded judges to our nation’s federal courts.