Morton

Plaintiff-Appellant Bruce Alan Morton (“Morton”) appeals the dismissal of his Eighth Amendment 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim against prison officials alleging that their deliberate indifference contributed to a violent assault on him by inmates on June 18, 2003. The district court found that Morton had failed to exhaust prison administrative remedies with regard to this claim as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

I

On June 18, 2003, Morton was assaulted by unknown inmates in the prison yard at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, California (“Ironwood”). It is not clear why he was assaulted, although he alleges it was because inmates gained access to his prison central file (“C-file”) and learned facts relating to his commitment offense (assault and murder of his five-year-old stepdaughter) that stigmatized him as a sex-offender. Following the assault, Morton was moved to protective administrative segregation pending investigation of the assault. Morton was later transferred to a protective housing unit at Corcoran State Prison (“Corcoran”).

On July 13, 2003, following the assault, Ironwood…