Inmate Stabbed in Eye Loses on Constitutional Claim Against U.S.

An inmate’s claim against the U.S. that his constitutional right to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment was violated, when prison officials negligently placed him with a violent cellmate, is blocked by the Federal Tort Claim Act’s discretionary function exception, the Eleventh Circuit said.

Although the FTCA broadly waives the government’s sovereign immunity in tort cases, the exception applies when an official performs a duty that involves their discretion, the opinion by Judge Frank M. Hull said. Inmate classification and housing placement fall within the exception, the court said Wednesday.

But Mackie Shivers, who was blinded in one eye ...