In Swain v. Junior, No. 20-11622 (May 5, 2020) (per
curiam) (Wilson, William Pryor, Branch), the Court stayed pending appeal a
preliminary injunction directing Metro West to employ various safety measures
to protect against spread of the virus and imposing various reporting
requirements.
The Court concluded that Metro West is likely to prevail on
appeal because the district court committed legal errors in analyzing the
plaintiffs’ Eight Amendment deliberate indifferent claim, and little evidence
showed that the jail was deliberately indifferent. The Court also concluded that Metro West
would suffer irreparable harm because the injunction deprives it of the
discretion necessary to allocate resources to fight the pandemic as it sees
fit. As for the balance of harm and the
public interest, the Court acknowledged that the virus posed risks to everyone
including inmates, but they did not show irreparable
harm that they would suffer without the injunction. Finally, the Court also observed that the
district court likely erred by refusing to address municipal liability and the
PLRA’s exhaustion requirement.
Judge Wilson dissented, opining that he saw no abuse of
discretion.
