Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendants-prison guards’ motion for summary judgment in plaintiff-prisoner’s section 1983 action, alleging that defendants violated his 8th amendment rights by encouraging another inmate to assault him. Dist. Ct. found that dismissal was required because plaintiff had not filed prison grievance prior to filing instant lawsuit, and that defendant had not otherwise exhausted his administrative remedies. Ct. of Appeals found that plaintiff was not required to exhaust his administrative remedies, so as to allow instant action to proceed, where plaintiff stated that his prison counselor had refused his request for required grievance form, and where prison officials had threatened to hurt him if he had filed grievance.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Prisoners