Inmate Revives Excessive Force Suit Over Beating, Pepper Spray

A North Carolina inmate can press claims of excessive force against the prison officers he says pepper sprayed and beat him while he was handcuffed, after the Fourth Circuit on Monday said it was unclear whether the officers were acting with malice or to protect safety.

A reasonable juror could conclude that the officers who pepper sprayed and beat Willie James Dean Jr. were punishing Dean for head-butting an officer, and not acting to protect prison safety as they claimed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held. The court revived Dean’s Eighth Amendment lawsuit, reversing a decision ...