Nevels v. Kern

Summary

The document contains findings and recommendations in a prisoner civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging excessive force in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The magistrate judge recommends granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and dismissing the action without prejudice because the plaintiff failed to exhaust available administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.

Holdings

1. Plaintiff failed to exhaust his available administrative remedies before filing the action because he did not appeal grievance SAC-A-20-01938 through the required third level, and grievance 016100 was rejected as duplicative rather than adjudicated on the merits.
2. Appealing the rejection of grievance 016100 did not exhaust the underlying excessive-force claim because plaintiff was challenging the duplicative classification, not obtaining merits review of the claim.
3. The grievance rejection did not render administrative remedies unavailable because plaintiff could not show that prison officials screened the grievance for a reason inconsistent with or unsupported by the applicable regulations.

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiff exhausted available administrative remedies before filing his § 1983 excessive-force claim.
2. Whether plaintiff's second grievance or appeal of its rejection exhausted the excessive-force claim.
3. Whether the rejection of plaintiff's grievance rendered administrative remedies unavailable.

Disposition

other