Cardenas-Ornelas v. Johnson, et al.
9th Cir. No. 24-6755
Luis Cardenas-Ornelas, held at High Desert State Prison in a protective segregation unit, alleged that during the COVID-19 pandemic he was confined to his cell 23 to 23½ hours a day and denied nearly all outdoor exercise for over a year—even as he was ordered to work alongside dozens of other in a crowded warehouse, and even as other units regained yard time. He brought Eighth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment claims against Warden Calvin Johnson and other officials, and the district court denied Warden Johnson qualified immunity on both. Warden Johnson appealed.
Rights Behind Bars and our partners at the UCLA School of Law Prisoners’ Rights Clinic represent Mr. Cardenas-Ornelas on appeal. In a published opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of qualified immunity on the Eighth Amendment claim, holding that a prisoner's right to outdoor exercise or otherwise meaningful recreation was clearly established well before 2020, and that Mr. Cardenas-Ornelas presented sufficient evidence that Warden Johnson knew of and disregarded the risk to his health by ordering his unit to work while denying it yard time. The case returns to the district court, where Mr. Cardenas-Ornelas's Eighth Amendment claim will proceed toward trial.
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