No. 19-1261October Term 2019Decided Nov 2, 2020Updated Nov 2, 2020
Taylor v. Riojas
This case arose after a Texas inmate said prison officers kept him for six days in two shockingly unsanitary cells—one covered in feces and another flooded with sewage while he was forced to sleep naked on the floor.
Case status
Decided · November 2, 2020
Read the opinion (PDF)- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Nov 2, 2020
- What it's about
This case arose after a Texas inmate said prison officers kept him for six days in two shockingly unsanitary cells—one covered in feces and another flooded with sewage while he was forced to sleep naked on the floor. The issue was whether the officers could still claim qualified immunity even though the Fifth Circuit agreed those conditions violated the Eighth Amendment.
Question presented
1. Whether the Court should reinterpret section 1983 and overturn thousands of cases across many decades holding that state officials are immune from suit except when settled law clearly proscribed their conduct. 2. If so, whether Respondents acted “under color of” any Texas “statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage.” 42 U.S.C. § 1983; cf. Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 187 (1961). 3. Whether the Fifth Circuit correctly considered binding authority when concluding that Respondents’ conduct was not unlawful beyond debate.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit / Decision released Nov 2, 2020
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Timing
Decided November 2, 2020
The Court released its decision on November 2, 2020 without hearing oral argument.
Documents
Activity
Docket activity2
Opinion added: opinion
Nov 2, 2020 | Court records
Brief added: Petition
Apr 24, 2020 | Court records
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 25, 2026
- Method
- Methodology