On February 6, 2007, Lowis & Gellen attorneys Martin McManaman and Patrick Moran won a victory in federal court for four clients who had been accused of violating the plaintiff's civil rights. The plaintiff, a former inmate at a local county jail, sued the county sheriff, the county jail's warden and two jail guards, alleging that each violated the plaintiff's Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by allowing another prisoner at the jail to attack and severely injure the plaintiff. After conducting limited discovery, McManaman and Moran filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff had no evidence to prove that any defendant violated his civil rights. In his published opinion, Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois agreed, holding that "no reasonable juror could find" that the defendants acted with deliberate indifference for the plaintiff's safety. By prevailing on their motion for summary judgment, McManaman and Moran prevented the case from going to trial. Judge Der-Yeghiayan's published opinion can be found at 2007 WL 433537 (N.D.Ill. Feb. 6, 2007).
For further information in this case or on Lowis & Gellen's civil rights defense group, please contact either Martin McManaman at mcmanaman@lowis-gellen.com or Patrick Moran at pmoran@lowis-gellen.com.
