By C1 Staff
RICHMOND, Va. — A correctional officer who was shot inside his home cannot hold several cell phone service companies responsible after an inmate arranged the hit via a contraband cell phone.
A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit upheld motions for dismissal in the case of Robert Johnson vs. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, according to Courthouse News.
Johnson alleged that the cell phone service companies knew that inmates were using their products illegally and did nothing to stop them.
A judge had previously dismissed the case after saying that Johnson’s claims were implausible and that South Carolina law did not require cell phone service providers to prevent inmates from illegally using their services.
When Johnson attempted to appeal, the three-judge panel affirmed the dismissal.
“This suit presents a novel but flawed legal theory applied to admittedly tragic facts,” U.S. Circuit Judge Henry Franklin Floyd wrote. “The Johnsons’ legal theory would force cell phone tower owners to impede the FCC’s authority in establishing wireless service areas.”
The FCC forbids any party other than the federal government from jamming wireless signals.
“The FCC is considering other means to address the problem of contraband cell phones without allowing prison authorities to to jam wireless signals themselves, such as making it easier for wireless service providers to deactivate contraband cell phones,” Floyd wrote.
It’s unclear which service provider carried the call that led to Johnson’s shooting, which might help Johnson in future pursuit of his claim.
Johnson was shot six times inside his home in front of his wife in March 2010.