Jacobs v. Wilkinson
Jacobs v. Wilkinson
Opinion of the Court
Phillip Douglas Jacobs, a pro se Ohio prisoner, appeals a district court judgment dismissing his civil rights complaint filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This case has been referred to a panel of the court pursuant to Rule 34(j)(1), 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, declaratory, and injunctive relief, Jacobs sued the North Central Correctional Institute and several prison employees contending that the defendants filed a false conduct report against him, that he was placed in confinement without medical surveillance, that he was deprived of his medication, that his mail was destroyed, and that he was denied medical care. The district court dismissed the complaint for Jacobs’s failure to exhaust his available administrative remedies as required by 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a).
In his timely appeal, Jacobs argues that the district court used the wrong standard of review in examining his complaint, that the complaint should not have been dismissed before it was served on the defendants, that the dismissal should have been made under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(3) rather than Fed.R.Civ.P. 56, and that the allegations contained in his amended complaint should relate back to his original complaint which would allow a second alleged constitutional violation to be deemed exhausted.
We review the district court’s judgment de novo. See Allen v. Mich. Dep’t of Corr., 165 F.3d 405, 409 (6th Cir. 1999).
Upon review, we conclude that the district court did not err in dismissing Ja
On September 29, 1998, Jacobs again received a conduct report for disobedience of a direct order and for being out of place. After Jacobs explained to the supervising officer that he had been out of place because he was waiting for pill call, the matter was dismissed. As a result of this discussion, Jacobs was delayed forty-five minutes in receiving his medication.
As for the February incident, the institution inspector received a grievance from Jacobs on June 29, 1998. The inspector determined that the matter was no longer grievable as the grievance was untimely. Jacobs appealed the decision to the chief inspector who affirmed the dismissal.
As for the September event, Jacobs sent an informal complaint resolution to the deputy warden. However, he did not attempt to resolve his complaint with a grievance, the next step in the administrative process.
Jacobs filed his initial complaint on September 29,1998, as it related to the February incident. He filed an amended complaint on November 4, 1998, adding the September incident. The defendants moved for summary judgment because Jacobs had failed to exhaust his available administrative remedies. The district court subsequently granted summary judgment for the defendants and dismissed the complaint.
Under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), prisoners who file lawsuits challenging the conditions of their confinement must allege and show that they have exhausted all available administrative remedies. Booth v. Churner, 532 U.S. 731, 121 S.Ct. 1819, 1825, 149 L.Ed.2d 958 (2001); Brown v. Toombs, 139 F.3d 1102, 1103-04 (6th Cir. 1998). A prisoner should attach to his complaint the administrative decisions, if available, showing the disposition of his complaint. Brown, 139 F.3d at 1103. Further, an inmate cannot simply fail to file a grievance or abandon the process before completion and then claim that he has exhausted his remedies or that it is futile for him to do so because his grievance is now time barred under the regulations. See Hartsfield v. Vidor, 199 F.3d 305, 309 (6th Cir. 1999).
As for the February incident, the facts establish that Jacobs filed a grievance with prison authorities. However, the grievance was dismissed as untimely. As to the September incident, Jacobs filed an informal complaint with the deputy warden. He did not file a formal complaint or pursue his remaining administrative remedies. As Jacobs did not exhaust his available administrative remedies as required under Booth, Brown, and Hartsfield, the com
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment. Rule 34(j)(2)(C), Rules of the Sixth Circuit.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Phillip Douglas JACOBS v. Reginald A. WILKINSON
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published