Kevin Lee Harvey v. Officer Melanie Patterson

Summary

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama dismissed Kevin Lee Harvey’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against Officer Melanie Patterson without prejudice for failure to exhaust available administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act. The court construed the exhaustion portion of Patterson’s summary-judgment motion as an unenumerated Rule 12(b) motion, granted it, and denied the remaining summary-judgment motion as moot. Alternatively, the court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute and comply with court orders.

Holdings

1. The PLRA requires a prisoner bringing a § 1983 action concerning prison conditions to properly exhaust available administrative remedies before filing suit. Because the unrebutted record showed that an available grievance procedure existed and Plaintiff did not use it before filing this action, dismissal without prejudice was required.
2. In the Eleventh Circuit, an exhaustion defense raised in a motion for summary judgment is treated as an unenumerated Rule 12(b) motion to dismiss because exhaustion is a matter in abatement rather than an adjudication on the merits.
3. Applying the Turner two-step process, the court dismissed because the undisputed record demonstrated that Plaintiff failed to exhaust available administrative remedies before filing suit.
4. Alternatively, the action could be dismissed without prejudice because Plaintiff failed to respond to Defendant's discovery request after an order compelling a response and failed to respond to Defendant's summary-judgment motion despite a specific court order.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Plaintiff's failure to exhaust available administrative remedies required dismissal of his § 1983 action under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
2. Whether the exhaustion defense raised in Defendant's summary-judgment motion should be treated as an unenumerated Rule 12(b) motion to dismiss.
3. Whether the action should alternatively be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute and failure to comply with court orders.
4. Whether Defendant's motion for summary judgment should be decided after dismissal for failure to exhaust.

Disposition

dismissed