00-1414 Larkin v. Galloway, et al.

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“Even if Larkin is correct that his complaint is not the same as a prison condition complaint about poor heating, or unqualified medical staff, for which one could envision effective prospective relief, Perez is no longer the last word on the point. Booth, as we have already noted, took a broader view of the utility of prison administrative processes. It requires the exhaustion of all administrative procedures that have ‘authority to take some action in response to a complaint,’ even if the procedure cannot provide the only relief that the prisoner is seeking, e.g., money damages. 121 S. Ct. at 1823. In Larkin’s case, this means that under sec. 1997e(a) Larkin had to exhaust any prison administrative process that (1) was empowered to consider his complaint and (2) could take some action in response to it. Larkin does not contend that his excessive force complaint against Lts. Galloway and Bowling somehow lay beyond the authorized jurisdiction of the Greenville administrative process. And there is no question that some action could have been taken in response to the complaint, even after Larkin’s wounds had healed; the officers might have been disciplined, he might have been moved to a unit or facility not under the defendants’ supervision, and, at a minimum, he would have received a hearing on his grievances.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Herndon, J., Wood, J.