Manuel Gonzalez, III v. T. Mason

MEMORANDUM

Manuel Antonio Gonzalez III, a California state prisoner, appeals pro se the district court’s dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. We affirm.

DISCUSSION

The Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), requires that a prisoner exhaust available administrative remedies before bringing a federal action concerning prison conditions. Griffin v. Arpaio, 557 F.3d 1117, 1119 (9th Cir.2009). The exhaustion must be “proper,” meaning that all steps the prison requires must be satisfied. Id.

We agree with the district court that Gonzalez failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. Moreover, the district court did not clearly err in finding that Gonzalez was not prevented from filing prison grievances. See Wyatt v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1119-20 (9th Cir.2003) (“In deciding a motion to dismiss for failure to exhaust nonjudicial remedies, the court may ... decide disputed issues of fact.”). Finally, there is no merit to Gonzalez’s contention that he exhausted his claims because prison officials otherwise had “notice” of his complaints. See Marella v. Terhune, 568 F.3d 1024, 1027 (9th Cir.2009) (noting prisoners must…