DEWAYNE JACKSON COX v. OFFICER BRADLEY QUINN
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Harris, July 6, 2016,
Qualified Immunity – 8th Amendment – Summary judgment inappropriate where correctional officers knew of threat to inmate and acted inadequately to protect inmate; dispute as to whether actions were reasonable.

Eighth Amendment – The Eighth Amendment requires prison officials to “take reasonable measures to guarantee the safety of the inmates” and to “protect prisoners from violence at the hands of other prisoners”
Liability for an 8th Amendment Violation failure to protect requires:
1) Inmate suffered serious deprivation/injury
2) “Deliberate indifference” to inmate health or safety (requires awareness of factors and risk of harm + awareness that actions were inappropriate in light of that risk)

A prison official acts with deliberate indifference when he ignores repeated requests from a vulnerable inmate to be separated from a fellow inmate who has issued violent threats which the aggressor will likely carry out in the absence of official intervention.