BY WILLIAM CRUM wcrum@opubco.com
A court ruling in the case of a man whose beating by jailers was caught on video has county leaders across Oklahoma on edge.
“It means more lawsuits, is what it means,” Ray Vaughn, chairman of the Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners, said Monday.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court said the state Constitution gives jail detainees who allege abuse the ability to sue counties and other governmental entities.
Until now, counties have had immunity under state law “from liability arising out of the operation of prison facilities,” the Supreme Court said in its ruling.
The provision forced people who claimed they had been mistreated in jail to sue for civil rights violations in federal court.
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