Pavey v. Conley

Summary

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit amended its June 5, 2008 slip opinion concerning the procedure for resolving contested exhaustion of administrative remedies in prisoner litigation. The order requires a hearing and appropriate discovery on exhaustion before merits proceedings, while allowing limited pre-resolution merits discovery in exceptional cases where exhaustion and merits issues share common facts.

Holdings

1. When exhaustion is contested, the district judge must conduct a hearing on exhaustion and permit whatever discovery relating to exhaustion the judge deems appropriate. If the prisoner did not exhaust, the judge must determine whether the prisoner still has remedies to exhaust, whether the failure was innocent and permits another opportunity to exhaust, or whether the failure was the prisoner's fault and ends the case.
2. If the judge determines that the prisoner properly exhausted administrative remedies, the case proceeds to pretrial discovery and, if necessary, trial on the merits; at a jury trial, the jury makes all necessary factual findings without being bound by or informed of the judge's exhaustion findings.
3. In the ordinary case, discovery on the merits should be deferred until the exhaustion issue is resolved, although district courts may permit limited merits-related discovery in exceptional cases when expeditious resolution requires it.

Questions Presented

1. What procedure should a district court follow when exhaustion of administrative remedies is contested in a prisoner's action?
2. When may discovery concerning the merits begin before the exhaustion issue has been resolved?

Disposition

other