Gates v. Vannatta
Gates v. Vannatta
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
Indiana inmate Arthur Gates, Jr. was convicted of destroying state property on a number of different occasions by Conduct Adjustment Boards at the Miami Correctional Facility. The Boards’ decisions ordered Gates to pay restitution for the damaged property, which included a surveillance camera, windows, and cell-wall paint. To effect the restitution orders, prison officials froze Gates’ inmate trust account, and he subsequently filed this action pro se under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that by doing so officials violated his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The CAB decisions also revoked varying amounts of Gates’ earned-credit time. The district court dismissed Gates’ complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) for failure to state a claim.
On appeal, Gates asserts that the district court prematurely dismissed his lawsuit without considering whether the defendants were actually guilty of wrongdoing. But the district court dismissed Gates’ complaint because his § 1983 action, if successful, would imply the CAB decisions wrongly took away his credit time. Such a result is foreclosed by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994), and Edwards v. Balisok, 520 U.S. 641, 117 S.Ct. 1584, 137 L.Ed.2d 906 (1997), unless Gates is first able to invalidate the CAB decisions. Instead of addressing this problem, Gates’ appellate brief merely reasserts his entitlement to “the relief he is seeking from the defendants.”
Although we construe pro se filings liberally, Gates’ appellate briefs ignore the grounds on which the district court acted, and we will not construct arguments for him. See Anderson v. Hardman, 241 F.3d 544, 545 (7th Cir. 2001). His reply brief cites legal authority for the proposition that § 1983 has no exhaustion requirement, but even if not waived,
APPEAL DISMISSED.
. Normally arguments not raised in the opening brief are waived. However, the defendants’ response brief relied almost entirely on the argument that Gates had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies before bringing suit. The defendants asserted as much in a motion to dismiss in the district court, but the district court dismissed Gates’ claim under § 1915(e)(2) before ruling on the exhaustion issue, so Gates may not have expected exhaustion to be an issue on appeal.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Arthur L. GATES Jr. v. John VANNATTA, Superintendent, and Donald Matthews
- Status
- Published