Benjamin v. Commissioner of the Correctional Department
Benjamin v. Commissioner of the Correctional Department
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Plaintiff-appellant David Benjamin, pro se and incarcerated, appeals from a grant of summary judgment entered by the District Court on August 13, 2007, 2007 WL 2319126, in favor of defendants. The District Court found that Benjamin failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), yet did not reach the question of whether Benjamin had valid grounds for not using the proper grievance procedures. On appeal, Benjamin argues that the District Court did not adequately consider (1) whether administrative remedies were made unavailable by threats of retaliation and (2) whether individual defendants who allegedly threatened retaliation were estopped from advancing an exhaustion defense. Appellant’s Br. at 3. Although we assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts and procedural history of the case, we find it useful to revisit key portions of that history here.
On remand, defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing, inter alia, that Benjamin had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, and that any alleged threats of retaliation did not render the grievance procedure unavailable. See ROA doc. 45. In August 2007, the District Court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment in its entirety, stating that in light of the Supreme Court’s holding in Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 126 S.Ct. 2378, 165 L.Ed.2d 368 (2006) and our holding in Macias v. Zenk, 495 F.3d 37 (2d Cir. 2007), it could not conclude that the excessive force claim was exhausted.
Accordingly, the judgment of the District Court is VACATED insofar as it granted summary judgment to defendants on the basis of plaintiffs failure to exhaust his administrative remedies and REMANDED to determine whether (1) administrative remedies were made unavailable by threats of retaliation and (2) individual defendants who allegedly threatened retaliation were estopped from advancing an exhaustion defense.
. The District Court noted in footnote 1 of its March 28, 2006 order that although the complaint identified the defendant as Charles O'Connor, "subsequent submissions to this court suggest that the correct name of the officer in question is Kevin O’Connor.'' Ap-pellee's App. at 126, n. 1.
. The District Court noted that notice was no longer valid in light of Woodford: "In light of the Supreme Court’s unequivocal pronouncement that formal exhaustion is required under the PLRA, and the Second Circuit’s interpretation of Woodford in Macias, we conclude that Benjamin has not adequately exhausted his administrative remedies on his excessive force claim." Appellee's App. at 46.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- David BENJAMIN v. COMMISSIONER OF the CORRECTIONAL DEPARTMENT OF the STATE OF NEW YORK, Commissioner Goord, Correctional Officer Charles O'Connor
- Status
- Published