Mother’s Civil Rights Suit Over Son’s Death in Jail May Proceed

A mother’s civil rights suit against the jailers who she alleged failed to adequately watch her son before he committed suicide in their custody was revived by the Fifth Circuit.

The trial court ruled that Karen Abraugh didn’t have standing under Louisiana law and that it therefore didn’t have jurisdiction over the case.

The district court conflated prudential standing and constitutional standing, the appeals court said. Prudential standing doesn’t present an jurisdictional question, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said.

Although Abraugh didn’t have prudential standing under state law—her son’s wife and daughter did—she had constitutional standing, ...