Walker v. Zenk

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Walker v. Zenk, 217 F. App'x 170 (3d Cir. 2007)

Walker v. Zenk

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

FISHER, Circuit Judge.

Jeffrey A. Walker appeals from the District Court’s dismissal of his Complaint. The Complaint included Bivens claims under the First, Fifth, and Eighth Amendments. The District Court dismissed the Complaint because it determined that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), required total exhaustion of administrative remedies, and Walker had not exhausted all of his administrative remedies for all of his claims. We held this case c. a. v. pending the Supreme Court’s decision in Jones v. Bock, — U.S. -, 127 S.Ct. 910, 166 L.Ed.2d 798 (2007).

In Jones, the Supreme Court addressed whether the PLRA required total exhaustion of administrative remedies as to all claims. Id. 127 S.Ct. at 923-26. The Supreme Court held that an inmate’s complaint under the PLRA should not be dismissed when the inmate exhausted his administrative remedies for some of his claims, but not all. Id. According to Jones, the District Court should have considered the claims that were exhausted, and dismissed only the unexhausted claims. Therefore, we will vacate the District Court’s decision and remand for proceedings consistent with Jones.

Reference

Full Case Name
Jeffrey A. WALKER, Appellant v. Michael A. ZENK; K. Bittenbender; David M. Rardin; Kathleen Hawk-Sawyer; Sanchez; Litchard; George Watson; Terry Bam; Robin Gregg
Status
Unpublished