Prisoner Grievances-Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Raynard Jackson v. Dane Esser

Case No.: 23-1346

Officials: Kirsch, Jackson-Akiwumi, and Pryor, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Prisoner Grievances-Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

Jackson, a prisoner at the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility (WSPF), was placed in a cell without running water for five days. He alleged that Lieutenant Dane Esser and other WSPF staff were aware of the lack of water but did not take action to resolve the issue. After Jackson showed another staff member the problem, the water was promptly turned on. However, Jackson claimed that Lt. Esser and other WSPF staff failed to provide him with medical care for dehydration. Jackson filed grievances regarding these issues and, after exhausting his administrative remedies within the WSPF, sued Lt. Esser and other WSPF staff under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The district court, only considering the processed grievances and without holding an evidentiary hearing, found that Jackson had not exhausted his administrative remedies for certain claims and defendants. Additional defendants, Nurse Beth Edge and Captain Dale Flannery, were dismissed at summary judgment, leaving only the claims against Lt. Esser for trial. The jury found in favor of Lt. Esser on both claims.

The appeals court agreed with Jackson that the district court should not have disregarded his allegedly unprocessed grievances without holding an evidentiary hearing. However, the court found no error in the district court’s conclusion that Jackson’s processed grievances did not exhaust remedies for all his claims. The court also found no error in the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Nurse Edge or its evidentiary rulings before trial. The court remanded for a hearing on the allegedly unprocessed grievances.

Affirmed in part and reversed in part and remanded

Decided 06/26/24

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