Trial lawyers specializing in personal injury and civil litigation
Court rules that pre-trial detainees are protected by 4th, not 14th Amendment
In Aldini v. Johnson, et al., the Sixth Circuit ruled that an inmate held in the booking room after being turned over to the jailers by the arresting officer, must look to the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures, rather than the 14th Amendment's guarantee of due process, when alleging a constitutional violation. Aldini alleges that he was beaten while in the holding tank. The trial judge applied the 14th Amendment "shocks the conscience" standard to assess the officers' culpability. The Sixth Circuit said that instead, it must apply the 4th Amendment's "reasonableness" standard.