Prisoner's civil rights claim under the ADA is considered by Sixth Circuit

Ned Mingus filed suit against the prison warden in Jackson, arguing that her failure to provide him with an individual cell was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection and due process.  Mingus is blind and contends that because he could not see the locks his personal property, he could not protect it from other prisoners.    He claimed that he met the Department of Corrections' criteria for a single man cell, but that the warden arbitrarily refused to assign him one. 

The Appellate court noted that the standard for proving a section 1983 deprivation of civil rights is "deliberate indifference" to Mingus' medical problems and that he had established, at most, negligence by the warden.  On that basis, his case was sent back to the lower court to determine solely whether there was a rational basis to afford Mingus the protection he claimed under the 14th Amendment.