After lights out at an Oklahoma jail, Officer Byers – the only jailer on duty – ordered 19-year-old Savanaha Works to leave her cell and go to the laundry room. There, he directed her to pull down her pants. Feeling powerless to resist the orders of an officer, Ms. Works complied, and Officer Byers sexually assaulted her.
When Ms. Works brought a civil suit against Officer Byers, he claimed that she consented to sexual contact – a defense that disregards the inherent power dynamics between guards and prisoners that render meaningful consent realistically impossible. The officer also raised qualified immunity as a defense, which exempts a correctional officer from being held responsible for violating a person’s constitutional rights unless the right in question was “clearly established.”
The district court denied qualified immunity, holding that a jury could conclude that Ms. Works did not consent, and that Officer Byers did, in fact, coerce her into sexual contact. The court also held that the law prohibiting nonconsensual, coerced sexual contact with someone in custody was clearly established.
Officer Byers appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The MacArthur Justice Center, alongside civil rights attorneys Bob Blakemore and Daniel Smolen, represents Ms. Works on appeal to defend the district court’s decision. The Tenth Circuit has an opportunity to render an important decision that prevents against any expansion of the consent defense, as well as affirms that clearly established law protects prisoners from sexual abuse by guards.