Jackie Russell Keeter, a Texas prisoner, filed a pro se lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against eight Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees, including Major Karla Sadler. Keeter alleged that he was housed with a fellow inmate, Victor Robinson, and was subsequently sexually assaulted by him. While the defendant did not dispute that the assault occurred, she moved for summary judgment arguing that Keeter failed to prove she was deliberately indifferent to his safety or personally involved in the housing decision. The district court appointed counsel for Keeter and ultimately granted the motion for summary judgment, dismissing his claims. Keeter appealed, but the Fifth Circuit noted that he had not filed objections to the magistrate judge's report, altering the standard of review for the appeal.
The Fifth Circuit reviewed the case under the plain error standard due to Keeter's failure to object to the magistrate judge's report. The court reiterated that the Eighth Amendment requires prison officials to take reasonable measures to guarantee inmate safety, but liability attaches only if officials are deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk of serious harm. This is an extremely high standard. The court found that Keeter failed to present specific facts creating a genuine issue for trial. Although Keeter argued that his personal characteristics and the cellmate's history made the housing dangerous, the evidence did not show a genuine dispute that a substantial risk existed or that Major Sadler was aware of such facts. The court rejected Keeter's argument that a transfer slip was used to deceive the court, noting the district court had already recognized the document was merely an example. Furthermore, the court dismissed Keeter's equal protection argument because it was not raised in the district court, and the scope of appellate review on summary judgment is limited to matters presented below.
The judgment in favor of Major Sadlar remains in effect, and Keeter's § 1983 claim is dismissed. The decision reinforces the requirement that prisoners must provide specific factual evidence, not conclusory allegations, to survive summary judgment in failure-to-protect cases. It also clarifies that appellate courts will not consider new legal theories, such as equal protection claims, if they were not presented to the district court.
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