Hudson v. McMillian

Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1 (1992) is a U.S. Supreme Court decision where the Court on a 7–2 vote held that the use of excessive physical force against a prisoner may constitute cruel and unusual punishment even though the inmate does not suffer serious injury.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court. In the case, petitioner Hudson, a Louisiana prison inmate, testified that he suffered minor bruises, facial swelling, loosened teeth, and a cracked dental plate as a result from a beating by respondent prison guards, McMillian and Woods, while he was handcuffed and shackled following an argument with McMillian, and that respondent Mezo, a supervisor on duty, alledged watched the beating. Hudson's injuries were "minor" and required no medical attention. Justices Rehnquist, White, Kennedy, and Souter, Stevens, Blackmun joined the majority opinion.

Justices Scalia and Thomas dissented, with Thomas writing that the beating did not cause sufficient harm to meet the constitutional standard; however, he left open the option of a criminal charge or a tort claim, stating:

In my view, a use of force that causes only insignificant harm to a prisoner may be immoral, it may be tortious, it may be criminal, and it may even be remediable under other provisions of the Federal Constitution, but it is not "cruel and unusual punishment." In concluding to the contrary, the Court today goes far beyond our precedents.