Blackwell v. California Department of Corrections

MEMORANDUM

Former California state prisoner Keith L. Blackwell appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging that prison officials violated his Eighth Amendment rights by acting with deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo both the district court’s dismissal of claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, Sapp v. Kimbrell, 623 F.3d 813, 821 (9th Cir.2010), and its summary judgment ruling, Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1131 (9th Cir.2000) (en banc), and we affirm.

The district court properly dismissed the claims against Pennywell, Escobar, McGrew-Reese, and Lawhorn for failure to exhaust because Blackwell did not exhaust his claims against these defendants prior to filing suit. See Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 85, 93-95 , 126 S.Ct. 2378 , 165 L.Ed.2d 368 (2006) (“proper exhaustion” is mandatory and requires adherence to administrative procedural rules); McKinney v. Carey, 311 F.3d 1198, 1199-1200 (9th Cir.2002) (per curiam) (administrative remedies must be exhausted before suit is filed); see also Griffin v. Arpaio, 557 F.3d 1117, 1120 (9th…