Clement v. Gomez

OPINION

SNEED, Circuit Judge.

California state prison warden James Gomez and other prison officials appeal the district court’s denial of their motion for summary judgment. Inmates Frank Clement, Arturo Chavez and Larry Caballero sued the officials for violating their Eighth Amendment rights, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The inmates asserted two claims of cruel and unusual punishment arising out of an incident in 1995 when the officials used pepper spray to quell a fight between two other prisoners, and the pepper spray vapors drifted into the plaintiff inmates’ cells. These claims alleged…