# Willie G. Harris v. Coweta County, a Political Subdivision of the State of Georgia, Larry T. Hammett, Sheriff of Coweta Co.

> Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · May 23, 1994 · 21 F.3d 388

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9486613

## Case

- **Full name:** Willie G. HARRIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. COWETA COUNTY, a Political Subdivision of the State of Georgia, Larry T. Hammett, Sheriff of Coweta Co., Defendants-Appellants
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- **Decided:** May 23, 1994
- **Citations:** 21 F.3d 388; 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 12394; 1994 WL 171596
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Roney
- **Judges:** Black, Carnes, Roney
- **Cited by:** 176 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9486613

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that, for purposes of qualified immunity, the question of “whether the law allegedly violated was clearly established at the time of the complained-about conduct, and, if it was, whether the official’s conduct was objectively reasonable in light of the information know…
- holding that evidence of inmate’s medical needs would not be considered in determining "whether Sheriff [ ] retains his entitlement to qualified immunity because there is no record evidence at this stage that [Sheriff] actually knew of [this evidence]"
- holding that it is clearly established law that a reasonable sheriff would have known that a lengthy delay in prescribed treatment for a serious medical need for a nonmedical reason may violate an inmate's constitutional rights
- stating that “[d]elayed treatment for 9 injuries that are of a lesser degree of immediacy than broken bones and bleeding cuts, but that are 10 obvious serious medical needs, may also give rise to constitutional claims”
- noting that a “[dJelay in treatment of serious and painful injuries was . . . clearly recognized as rising to the level of a constitutional claim” and that a “‘few hours’ delay in receiving medical care for emergency needs such as broken bones . .. may constitute deliberate in…

## Opinion text

RONEY, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I concur in the decision that summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds was properly denied with the understanding that first, the law concerning'medical treatment of prisoners was clearly established, i.e., the *395 plaintiff can recover only if the defendant was deliberately indifferent to the plaintiffs medical needs, and second, there are issues of fact as to whether the Sheriffs conduct rose to the level of deliberate indifference required to establish liability. The need for medical treatment upon which to base the claim may be shown not only by the facts the Sheriff knew at the time he acted, but by facts that a reasonable Sheriff should have known, had he been other than deliberately indifferent to the prisoner’s medical needs.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9486613. Public record. Not legal advice.