Garrison v. Walters
Garrison v. Walters
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
Michael Garrison, proceeding pro se, appeals a district court judgment dismissing his civil rights complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law. This case has been referred to a panel of the court pursuant to Rule 34(j)(l), Rules of the Sixth Circuit. Upon examination, this panel unanimously agrees that oral argument is not needed. Fed. R.App. P. 34(a).
Seeking monetary relief (including compensation for emotional distress), Garrison sued a sergeant (Walters) employed at the Michigan Training Unit, a lieutenant (Evans), and two unknown “Red Tag” officers. Garrison sued the defendants in their individual capacities. Garrison claimed that: 1) the defendants violated his rights against cruel and unusual punishment when they destroyed his photo album which contained pictures of deceased family members; 2) the defendants deprived
Upon review, the district court concluded that Garrison had not exhausted his administrative remedies with respect to his retaliation claim. Hence, it dismissed the claim without prejudice. The court dismissed Garrison’s remaining claims for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, and it declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over his state law claims. Garrison has filed a timely appeal, essentially reasserting his claims.
I.
Upon review, we conclude that the district court properly dismissed Garrison’s retaliation claim. Under § 1997e(a), a prisoner must exhaust all of his available administrative remedies before filing a § 1983 action in federal court, Brown v. Toombs, 139 F.3d 1102, 1103-04 (6th Cir. 1998), and the prisoner has the burden of demonstrating that he has exhausted these remedies. Id. at 1104. Although money damages may not be available through the prison grievance process, Garrison must still exhaust these remedies because the prison has an administrative system that will review his claims. See Booth v. Churner, 531 U.S. 956, 121 S.Ct. 1819,-, 149 L.Ed.2d 958, 2001 WL 567712, at *5 (May 29, 2001). To establish that he has exhausted his administrative remedies prior to filing suit, a prisoner should attach to his § 1983 complaint any decision demonstrating the administrative disposition of his claims or describe with specificity the administrative proceeding and its outcome. Knuckles El v. Toombs, 215 F.3d 640, 642 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1040, 121 S.Ct. 634,148 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000).
Although Garrison filed a grievance concerning the destruction of his photo album, he did not state any facts that would have indicated that he was grieving Walters’s alleged retaliatory conduct. Indeed, Garrison did not even mention Walters in the grievance. Moreover, at both the Step II and Step III levels of the grievance process, Garrison complained that Walters had improperly confiscated his photo album, but he did not state any facts that would have indicated that he was grieving Walters’s alleged retaliatory conduct.
II.
The district court properly dismissed Garrison’s due process, Eighth Amendment, and equal protection claims for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. This court renders de novo review of a district court’s dismissal of a complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. See McGore v. Wrigglesworth, 114 F.3d 601, 604 (6th Cir. 1997).
Garrison failed to state an Eighth Amendment claim. The Prison Litigation Reform Act requires a prior showing of physical injury before a prisoner may bring a claim for emotional or mental damages. 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e). This requirement applies to Eighth Amendment claims. Herman v. Holiday, 238 F.3d 660, 665-66 (5th Cir. 2001). However, Garrison neither alleged nor made a showing of a physical injury concerning his Eighth Amendment claim.
In addition, Garrison failed to state an equal protection claim because prisoners are not members of a protected class. See Hampton v.. Hobbs, 106 F.3d 1281, 1286 (6th Cir. 1997).
III.
Finally, contrary to Garrison’s argument on appeal, the district court properly declined to exercise its supplemental jurisdiction over Garrison’s state law claims against the defendants once it dismissed his federal claims. . See Hankins v. The Gap, Inc., 84 F.3d 797, 802-03 (6th Cir. 1996).
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment. Rule 34(j)(2)(C), Rules of the Sixth Circuit.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.