What is the test for a claim for excessive force in violation of the Eighth Amendment?

To establish a claim for the use of excessive force in violation of the Eighth Amendment, a plaintiff must demonstrate that prison officials applied force maliciously and sadistically to cause harm, rather than in a good-faith effort to maintain or restore discipline. Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 6-7 (1992). In making this determination, the court may evaluate (1) the extent of the inmate's injuries; (2) the need for application of force; (3) the relationship between that need and the amount of force used; (4) the threat reasonably perceived by the responsible officials; and (5) any efforts made to temper the severity of a forceful response. Id. at 7; see also id. at 9-10 ("The Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment necessarily excludes from constitutional recognition de minimis uses of physical force, provided that the use of force is not of a sort repugnant to the conscience of mankind.") (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). "Unless it appears that the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the

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plaintiff, will support a reliable inference of wantonness in the infliction of pain . . . the case should not go to the jury." Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 322 (1986).