A former Idaho prisoner who once worked in construction has sued Idaho’s prison system and its for-profit private medical provider after his fractured hand was left untreated, alleging that the agencies’ “deliberate indifference” to his broken thumb caused permanent damage.
Bobby Templin’s thumb was fractured in January 2023 after a fight broke out at the Idaho State Correctional Center, south of Boise, where he was housed. Records obtained by the Idaho Statesman showed that it took several months for Templin to see a surgeon, despite his continual complaints about pain and pleas for help. By then, his broken hand “healed with a deformity,” his doctor wrote in a medical record.
The 14-page lawsuit alleged that prison and medical officials violated his Eighth Amendment right to be protected from “cruel and unusual punishment” and his Fourteenth Amendment right to receive adequate medical care while incarcerated…