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WPI 343.02 Conditions of Confinement—Eighth Amendment—Deliberate Indifference—General Condition...

6A WAPRAC WPI 343.02Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil

6A Wash. Prac., Wash. Pattern Jury Instr. Civ. WPI 343.02 (7th ed.)
Washington Practice Series TM
Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil
April 2022 Update
Washington State Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions
Part XVII. Civil Rights
Chapter 343. Civil Rights—Conditions of Confinement
WPI 343.02 Conditions of Confinement—Eighth Amendment—Deliberate Indifference—General Conditions of Confinement
“Deliberate indifference,” as used in these instructions, means:
(1) the defendant was aware of a substantial risk that the plaintiff would be seriously harmed, and
(2) the defendant consciously failed or refused to take reasonable steps to address the substantial risk of serious harm.
Negligence or inadvertence alone does not constitute deliberate indifference.
NOTE ON USE
Use this instruction as the definition of deliberate indifference for an Eighth Amendment claim that the defendant failed to address a significant risk of serious harm to plaintiff from a general condition of confinement while the plaintiff was in custody after conviction.
See WPI 343.00 (Conditions of Confinement—Eighth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment—Introduction) regarding whether to use or modify this instruction for a general conditions of confinement claim brought by a pretrial detainee under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Use this instruction with WPI 340.01 (Claims Instruction for Section 1983 Cases); WPI 340.03 (Civil Rights—“Under Color of Law”—Definition); WPI 340.04 (Civil Rights—“Subjects” and “Causes to be Subjected”—Definition); WPI 343.01 (General Conditions of Confinement—Eighth Amendment—Burden of Proof on the Issues).
Do not use WPI 341.04 (Civil Rights—Failure to Train or Inadequate Training—Municipal Liability—“Deliberate Indifference”—Definition) as the definition of deliberate indifference, unless there is an issue about failure to train or inadequate training, in the context of a cause of action against municipal defendant or other local government defendant.
For the definition of deliberate indifference in a medical claim brought under the Eighth Amendment, use WPI 343.04 (Conditions of Confinement—Eighth Amendment—Deliberate Indifference—Medical) instead of this instruction.
For the definition of deliberate indifference in a failure to protect claim brought under the Eighth Amendment, use WPI 343.06 (Conditions of Confinement—Eighth Amendment—Deliberate Indifference—Failure to Protect) instead of this instruction.
COMMENT
This instruction is new for this edition. The instruction that was designated as WPI 343.02 in previous editions can be found at WPI 343.04 (Conditions of Confinement—Eighth Amendment—Deliberate Indifference—Medical.)
See WPI 343.00 (Conditions of Confinement—Eighth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment—Introduction) for a discussion of this and other Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment conditions of confinement claims.
This instruction is based on Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 837–38, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994); Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 33–36, 113 S.Ct. 2475, 125 L.Ed.2d 22 (1993); Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 303–06, 111 S.Ct. 2321, 115 L.Ed.2d 271 (1991); Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976); and Estate of Ford v. Ramirez-Palmer, 301 F.3d 1043, 1049–52 (9th Cir. 2002).
[Current as of September 2018.]
End of Document