Earnest Woods, II v. Tom Carey

We hold in this case that Band and Wyatt notices must be served concurrently with motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment so that pro se prisoner plaintiffs will have fair, timely and adequate notice of what is required of them in order to oppose those motions. Notices served at a time when defendants have not yet filed motions to dismiss or motions for summary judgment (and may never file such motions) do not sufficiently serve that purpose.

INTRODUCTION

Earnest Cassell Woods, formerly an inmate at California State Prison, Solano, sued Warden Tom Carey and Appeals Coordinator Santos Cervantes under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for deliberate indifference to his medical needs due to the improper denial of two grievance forms seeking dental care. First, the district court granted Carey’s motion for summary judgment, concluding that Woods failed to connect him to the alleged deprivation of his constitutional rights. Subsequently, it granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, but only as to one of the two grievances. After proceeding to trial on the remaining grievance, Woods obtained a jury verdict against Cervantes, the only…