Crow case dismissed, another lawsuit set for trial

In the federal lawsuit of Scott Crow v. Marty Montgomery U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson dismissed the case citing a controversial ruling by the 8th District Court of Appeals that gave Montgomery and others individual immunity. You may remember our post entitled Split Decision where we showed you that the Court of Appeals went outside the norm and ruled in favor of Montgomery.

The Court wrote, " Ordinarily, there is no appeal from a trial court order denying summary judgment," but granted the appeal on the grounds that "Crow's allegations show that the FCDC officials may have acted unreasonably in failing to take particular measures to improve the conditions at the facility, but that does not rise to the level of deliberate indifference." Never mind the fact that case law reads "[A] defendant, entitled to invoke a qualified immunity defense, may not appeal a district court's summary judgment order insofar as that order determines whether or not the pretrial record sets forth a 'genuine' issue of fact for trial." (Johnson, 515 U.S. at 319-20)

The Court however found that the case could go on against the County but Judge Wilson tossed the case because of the wording in the ruling issued by the 8th District Court of Appeals. So not only did the Appeals Court go out of its way to let Montgomery and crew off the hook it succeeded in tanking the case as well.

Attorney Michael Rainwater issued a petition for a Writ of Mandamus compelling the 8th District Court of Appeals to toss the entire case based on its use of this phrase, "n the facts taken in the light most favorable to [Plaintiff-Respondent Scott A.] Crow, he has not made out a constitutional violation". The petition was denied but it made Judge Wilson reconsider his findings.

Forget the fact that Judge Wilson had already ruled that there was a "genuine issue of material fact" that needed to be heard by a jury. Forget the fact that the jailers put Crow in with a prisoner who had just come off confinement for beating another prisoner even though Crow was only going to be there over night. Forget the fact that Crow's confinement was due to an errant probation violation complaint and he should not have even been there in the first place. Let's just toss this whole case away because of a controversial ruling by the 8th District Court of Appeals.

Another lawsuit involving the Faulkner County Detention Center and another inmate attack was set for trial this past Tuesday. Former inmate Aaron Bradshaw is suing Sheriff Montgomery, jail administrators, and other unidentified jailers for overcrowded conditions that led to a 2004 attack on him by another inmate. The date for this trial is still yet to be set but you can bet that Rainwater will be relying on Crow's dismissal as well as the ACLU suit that was also dismissed.

It's been a sad and disgraceful display of injustices that have went by the wayside in just about every aspect of Sheriff Montgomery's tenure as sheriff. He and his staff are responsible for giving us nothing but one problem after another. Hopefully it will be a much brighter future when this administration is ended. Provided that the people of this county put a decent, hard working professional who wants to change things for the better in office. One who has the courage and commitment to get the job done and done correctly.

We here at the Faulkner County News Blog wish to send our sympathy out to the Crow family; it's been a long tough road to take standing up for what is right and just. Believe us we know this all too well. . .