CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill, who was convicted of civil rights violations of inmates at the Clayton County Jail, lost his latest bid to have his conviction overturned in federal court.
Hill’s appeal to the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit was based on a claim of qualified immunity for actions that led to his previous conviction.
The court has now denied that qualified immunity claim, saying that immunity is not a factor if constitutional rights of inmates are violated.
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In the court case, which was between Glenn Howell and Hill, the court found that “Hill’s conviction arose from his punishment of Howell and five other compliant, nonresistant detainees by leaving them in a restraint chair for hours at a time.”
The court ruling also mentioned a separate affirmation by the court of Hill’s conviction while this interlocutory appeal based on qualified immunity was pending.
“This Court has now held that clearly established law put Hill on notice that the use of a restraint chair under the specific circumstances of this case was an unconstitutional use of force,” and violated the 14th Amendment rights of Howell and the others, according to the order denying Hill’s appeal effort.
Following his conviction in 2022, Hill was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. In March 2024, Hill was transferred from federal prison to community confinement, earlier than the initially planned July 25, 2024 release, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
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