Thomas

Thomas v. Arpaio

Good Law
333 F. App'x 334
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitOctober 9, 2009No. 08-17303California319 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Arthur Truman Thomas, a former pretrial detainee at Maricopa County Jail, appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for failure to exhaust administrative remedies pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 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 review 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 claims of excessive force and medical indifference in counts one and three of the complaint because Thomas failed to complete the prison administrative process with respect to those claims before initiating a lawsuit in federal court. See McKinney v. Carey, 311 F.3d 1198, 1199 (per curiam) (holding that exhaustion under § 1997e(a) must occur prior to commencement of the action); Vaden v. Summerhill, 449 F.3d 1047, 1050 (9th Cir.2006) (“[A]n action is ‘brought’ for purposes of § 1997e(a) when the complaint is tendered to the district clerk, and not when it is subsequently filed.”) (internal quotation marks omitted);…

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