Prison authorities owe a duty to take reasonable care for the safe custody and welfare of prisoners, but this is not a 'higher' duty than the general duty of care — it is the standard of reasonable care applied to the particular circumstances of custody. A trial judge directing a jury in a prison negligence case is not required to tell the jury that prison authorities have been held liable in other cases, as this would intrude on the jury's fact-finding function. [name withheld] v Dunkel inference may not be available where the party seeking the inference failed to take steps to compel production of documents and statutory confidentiality provisions may apply.
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