Candler v. Bustos

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California directs the plaintiff to show cause in writing why his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action should not be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The court gives the plaintiff 30 days to respond or voluntarily dismiss the action and warns that noncompliance may result in a recommendation of dismissal.

Holdings

1. The Prison Litigation Reform Act requires a prisoner to exhaust available administrative remedies before bringing an action concerning prison conditions, and unexhausted claims cannot be brought in court.
2. When failure to exhaust is clear from the face of the complaint, the court may dismiss the claim; here, Plaintiff's allegations appeared to establish that he had not properly exhausted his administrative remedies before filing suit.
3. California state prisoners generally must receive a disposition from the second level of review before administrative remedies are deemed exhausted, subject to applicable exceptions.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the complaint establishes on its face that Plaintiff failed to exhaust available administrative remedies as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
2. Whether Plaintiff should be required to show cause why the action should not be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

Disposition

other