Hughes v. Savell

EDITH H. JONES, Circuit Judge:

Sergeant Craig Saveli, a security officer at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, appeals from a jury verdict under Louisiana law which awarded $1750 to prisoner Ricky Hughes, after the jury concluded that Sa-veli negligently failed to protect Hughes from an attack by another inmate. On appeal, Saveli contends that the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the federal courts from addressing the state-law claim since this claim directly implicates Louisiana, which is immune from suit in the federal courts. We agree with Saveli’s assessment.1…