Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976)
Type
Case
Week
Week 7
Course
LA 50: Constitutional Law
Definition
A case which the USSC established the standard of what a prisoner must plead in order to claim a violation of 8th Amendment rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Specifically, the Court held that a prisoner must allege acts or omissions sufficiently harmful to evidence deliberate indifference to serious medical needs. Though the Court credited Gamble's complaint that doctors had failed to provide appropriate care, it held that medical malpractice did not rise to the level of "cruel and unusual punishment" simply because the victim is a prisoner.