Ramirez v. Young

Dist. Ct. erred in dismissing for failure to exhaust administrative remedies plaintiff-prisoner’s section 1983 action alleging various constitutional claims, where record showed that: (1) plaintiff failed to file any internal grievances regarding claims made in section 1983 action prior to filing instant section 1983 action; (2) defendants-prison officials were aware that plaintiff understood only Spanish language; and (3) defendants only informed plaintiff of prison’s grievance procedure in English. As such, plaintiff was excused from satisfying exhaustion requirements set forth in Prison Litigation Reform Act because defendants had failed to inform plaintiff of grievance process in manner that he might reasonably understand.