Rafe Dearl Ramsey v. Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office, et al.

Summary

The court discharged its prior order to show cause regarding exhaustion of administrative remedies because the complaint and response did not clearly establish that Plaintiff failed to exhaust available remedies. The court directed the clerk to randomly assign a district judge and recommended dismissal without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) and Local Rule 183(b) because Plaintiff failed to update his address or otherwise prosecute the action. The parties were given fourteen days to file objections.

Holdings

1. Dismissal for failure to exhaust was not warranted because it was not clear from the face of the complaint that plaintiff had failed to exhaust available remedies; plaintiff alleged that jail staff ignored his request for a grievance form, potentially making the grievance process unavailable.
2. The court recommended dismissal without prejudice for failure to prosecute because plaintiff failed to update his address, failed to respond to the court, and left the court without a reasonable alternative for managing the action.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the action could be dismissed at screening for failure to exhaust administrative remedies when the complaint and response alleged that the grievance process may have been unavailable because jail staff ignored plaintiff's request for a grievance form.
2. Whether dismissal without prejudice for failure to prosecute was warranted when plaintiff failed to update his address, failed to respond to court communications, and ceased litigating the action.

Disposition

remanded