Jefferson v. Rife

Issue: (1) Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit erred when it held, in conflict with similar cases decided in other circuits, that an officer who is deliberately indifferent to a pretrial detainee"s serious medical needs could be liable for inflicting unconstitutional punishment on the pretrial detainee in violation of the due process clause; and (2) whether an appellate court abuses its discretion in applying the Supreme Court's two-prong qualified immunity test when it holds that a police officer may have violated a constitutional right but declines to address whether the right was "clearly established," thereby violating the Supreme Court's requirement that qualified immunity cases be resolved at their "earliest possible stage in litigation."