Hernandez

Smith v. Hernandez

Good Law
333 F. App'x 309
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitOctober 5, 2009No. 08-56433California354 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Gary P. Smith, a California state prisoner, appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for failure to exhaust administrative remedies as required by 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo the district court’s application of substantive law and for clear error its factual determinations, Wyatt v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1117 (9th Cir.2003), and we affirm.

The district court properly dismissed the action because Smith did not complete the prison grievance process prior to filing suit. See Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 93-95 , 126 S.Ct. 2378 , 165 L.Ed.2d 368 (2006) (holding that “proper exhaustion” under § 1997e(a) is mandatory and requires adherence to administrative procedural rules). The district court did not clearly err by finding unpersuasive Smith’s claim that defendants’ actions prevented him from exhausting his administrative remedies. See Wyatt, 315 F.3d at 1119-20 (“In deciding a motion to dismiss for a failure to exhaust nonjudicial remedies, the court may look beyond the pleadings and decide disputed issues of fact.”).

The district court did not abuse its…

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