Moose Lake prison Covid appeal denied

A lawsuit accusing the Minnesota Department of Corrections of not fulfilling its obligations to protect prisoners in Moose Lake from the Covid-19 pandemic was dismissed in July 2020 by a Sixth District judge. That decision was upheld earlier this week by the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Initially filed on behalf of three inmates by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota against the Department of Corrections in April 2020, the petition asked for the release of the three prisoners and others in a similar situation to a safe location during the Covid-19 pandemic because the state had failed to take reasonable measures to protect them. Only one of the original petitioners, Adam Dennis Sanbornn, is still in prison.

In her memorandum and order denying the lawsuit last summer, Sixth District judge Leslie Beiers stated that the complainants failed to establish that the correctional facility was “deliberately indifferent” to a substantial risk of serious harm to their health or safety. She also explained there is no violation of the Eighth Amendment “when prison officials know of a substantial risk and respond reasonably, even if the response does not ultimately avert the harm” or when “the risk of serious harm is substantial, but prison officials have undertaken significant steps to try to reduce the harm and protect inmates.”

A three-judge panel for the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed Beiers’ rulings in a 19-page nonprecedential decision filed Monday, April 12.