Chavarriaga v. State of N.J. Dep’t of Corr. — civil rights — reversal in part — Greenberg

In this prisoner-civil-rights appeal, the Third Circuit partially reversed a district court ruling for the defendants. The plaintiff alleged that, in retaliation for an excessive-force suit she had filed, prison staff forced her to be naked in view of male guards, subjected her to a painful body cavity search, denied sanitary napkins and medication, and locked her for days in a cell with nothing to drink but the water in the toilet. The Third Circuit rejected the district court’s ruling that these acts were not serious enough to violate the Eighth Amendment. The court also reversed dismissal of related equal-protection and state-law claims. The court affirmed dismissal of her claims against prison supervisors, but remanded to give the plaintiff a chance to identify the prison staff responsible.

Joining Greenberg were Ambro and Fuentes. Arguing counsel were Noel Crowley for the prisoner and Daniel Vannella for the defendants.