Supreme Court rejects Bivens action against private prison employees

In an 8-1 opinion last week issued in Minneci v. Pollard, the Supreme Court held that an inmate in a privately contracted federal prison cannot maintain a Bivens action against facility employees to redress injuries he sustained as a result of their neglect. 

The plaintiff, Pollard, a prisoner in the Taft Correctional Institute operated by The GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corporation), fractured his elbows in a fall outside of the prison’s butcher shop in 2002.  He alleges that through the neglect of Wackenhut staff, he suffered immeasurable pain and “two permanently damaged arms”.

Although the Ninth Circuit found existing California tort law to be an insufficient remedy for Pollard, the Supreme Court found that "the state tort law authorizes adequate alternaive damages actions -- actions that provide both significant deterrence and compensation."

The ruling is significant for states (including Texas) “where federal prison facilities are being run by private companies”, but it is also important to note that the decision is narrowly focused on cases in which an appropriate state remedy exists that provides protection to the plaintiff.  The greater question of whether or not an employee of a private corporation under contract with the federal government “acts under color of federal law” for the purpose of Bivens remains unanswered.