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31 Crim. Just. Pol'y Rev. 721 (2020)
Section 1983 Civil Liability against Prison Officials and Dentists for Delaying Dental Care

handle is hein.journals/cjpr31 and id is 708 raw text is: Article Criminal Justice Policy Review 2020, Vol. 31(5) 721-745 Section 1983 Civil Liability ©TheAuthor(s)2019 Article reuse guidelines: Against Prison Officials and sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1 177/0887403419860899 Dentists for Delaying Dental journals.sagepub.com/home/cjp Care OSAGE Claire Angelique Nolasco' and Michael S. Vaughn2 Abstract Many prisoners enter correctional facilities in the United States with little history of good dental hygiene and even less history of access to dentists. Thus, the incarceration experience presents opportunities for inmates to receive quality dental care, often for the first time. Dental care delivered by correctional dentists is complicated, however, by the array of serious dental conditions and difficult to treat dental problems in clinical settings. These conditions exist within a legal environment that mandates adequate dental care be provided to prisoners by the state. This article examines prisoners' Section 1983 lawsuits, claiming that delays in the delivery of dental care violate inmates' federally guaranteed rights. The analysis focuses on what the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals have required of correctional officials and dentists in the form of dental care, concluding with nine best practices for correctional dental practitioners to follow to avoid Section 1983 liability. Keywords prison dental care, prison health care, correctional health care, Section I 983 litigation, civil liability Inmates present particular problems to correctional dentistry because many enter con- finement without a childhood or adult history of overall oral hygiene (Anno, 2001). Racial and ethnic minority groups are overrepresented among the inmate population 'Texas A&M University-San Antonio, TX, USA 2Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA Corresponding Author: Claire Angelique Nolasco, Criminology and Criminal Justice Program, Department of Social Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, One University Way, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA. Email: cnolasco@tamusa.edu

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