Municipalities operating lockups and jails face claims arising from conditions and from the treatment of detainees.
Pretrial detainees are protected by due process rather than by the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, and several circuits apply an objective standard to their conditions and medical care claims — which is more favourable to claimants than the subjective deliberate indifference standard applied to convicted prisoners.
Medical care. A serious medical need, and a response that was objectively unreasonable or deliberately indifferent. Screening at intake, access to care, medication continuity and response to emergencies are the recurring subjects.
Suicide risk. Screening at intake, recognition of risk factors, monitoring, and removal of ligature points. These claims are frequent and expensive.
Conditions. Sanitation, temperature, overcrowding, and access to basic needs.
Failure to protect from violence by other detainees.
Municipal liability through policy, custom or failure to train — including contracting with a medical provider without oversight, which does not transfer responsibility.
Practical controls. Written intake screening with a validated instrument, documented monitoring, contracts with medical providers containing performance standards and oversight, and review of every significant incident.