Danny E. McDaniel v. James McDonough

194 F. App'x 610
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 23, 2006
Docket05-15641
StatusUnpublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 194 F. App'x 610 (Danny E. McDaniel v. James McDonough) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Danny E. McDaniel v. James McDonough, 194 F. App'x 610 (11th Cir. 2006).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Danny E. McDaniel (“McDaniel”), a Florida prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, appeals the district court’s: (1) dismissal of his civil rights suit for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e, and for failure to state a claim, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(b)(ii); and (2) denial of his motions for injunctive relief. McDaniel, a Native American, alleged that the defendants, various prison officials and the sec *612 retary of the Florida Department of Corrections (“FDOC”), violated his civil and constitutional rights by depriving him of his medicine bag and forcing him to shave his head, and he sought to enjoin the defendants from further violating his rights.

On appeal, McDaniel argues that the defendants deprived him of the “availability of the grievance process,” as the warden and the secretary of the FDOC refused to review his allegations and did not respond to the issues he presented. Moreover, he asserts that he satisfied the exhaustion requirement by submitting grievances presenting “relevant factual circumstances giving rise to potential elaim[s],” which he alleges provided sufficient notice to the prison of his potential claims and fulfilled the “basic purposes” of the exhaustion requirements.

We review de novo a district court’s dismissal of a prisoner’s action for failure to comply with the exhaustion requirements of 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). Higginbottom v. Carter, 223 F.3d 1259, 1260 (11th Cir.2000). Pursuant to § 1997e(a), “No action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this title, or any other Federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted.” A civil action with respect to “prison conditions” means “any civil proceeding arising under Federal law with respect to the conditions of confinement or the effects of actions by government officials on the lives of persons confined in prison.” 18 U.S.C. § 3626(g)(2); Higginbottom, 223 F.3d at 1260.

The FDOC provides a three-step grievance procedure. See Chandler v. Crosby, 379 F.3d 1278, 1287-88 (11th Cir.2004); Fla. Admin. Code Ann. § 33-103.005-.007. However, emergency grievances and grievances of a sensitive nature may be filed directly with the warden’s office or with the secretary of the DOC. Id. § 33-103.006(3)(a), (3)(d). If an emergency or sensitive nature grievance is not accepted, it is returned to the inmate with instructions to resubmit the grievance through the normal three-step process. Id. § 33-103.006(4); § 33-103.007(6)(e).

We have explained that “Congress now has mandated exhaustion in section 1997e(a) and there is no longer discretion to waive the exhaustion requirement.... [Ejxhaustion is now a pre-condition to suit....” Alexander v. Hawk, 159 F.3d 1321, 1325-26 (11th Cir.1998); see also Leal v. Georgia Department of Corrections, 254 F.3d 1276, 1279 (11th Cir.2001) (collecting cases). We have also stated that “[a] claim that fails to allege the requisite exhaustion of remedies is tantamount to one that fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.” Rivera v. Allin, 144 F.3d 719, 731 (11th Cir. 1998).

In Alexander, the plaintiff did not exhaust his administrative remedies before filing suit, claiming that the Bureau of Prison’s administrative remedies were futile and inadequate. See Alexander, 159 F.3d at 1325. We concluded that § 1997e requires the plaintiff to submit his claims for monetary and injunctive relief to the available prison grievance program, “even if the relief offered by that program does not appear to be ‘plain, speedy, and effective,’ before filing those claims in federal court.” Id. at 1328. In so finding, we found that exhaustion is a pre-condition to suit, and, therefore, the courts cannot simply waive those requirements where the courts determine the remedies are futile or inadequate. Id. at 1326.

In the instant case, McDaniel failed to exhaust the available administrative remedies prior to filing his suit. *613 McDaniel filed his initial complaint on March 29, 2005. The exhibits attached to McDaniel’s initial and amended complaints included only three documents dated prior to his filing of this suit — two informal grievances which were denied, and one inmate request regarding his property. There were no documents submitted with either complaint indicating that McDaniel challenged the outcome of these grievances prior to filing the instant suit. To the extent McDaniel relies upon the grievances and appeals he submitted after filing his initial complaint, such grievances and appeals cannot be used to support his claim that he exhausted his administrative remedies, because satisfaction of the exhaustion requirement was a precondition to the filing of his suit, and, thus, must have occurred before the suit was filed, see Hawk, 159 F.3d at 1325-26. Moreover, to the extent McDaniel asserts that he did not exhaust his administrative remedies because appeals of his grievances would have been futile, his argument must fail, because we have explained that the district court cannot simply waive the exhaustion requirements where the court determines that the administrative remedies are futile or inadequate. Id. at 1326. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of McDaniel’s amended complaint.

On appeal, McDaniel next alleges that the district court abused its discretion in denying his emergency motions seeking injunctive relief. He claims that he was subject to threats of “irreparable harm” by the defendants, and the violations of his rights were ongoing. He argues that he demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits, because the defendants confiscated and destroyed his religious possessions and shaved his head, thus denying him his freedom to exercise his religion. He claims that the threatened harm outweighed the harm to the defendants that would have resulted if the court granted injunctive relief, and injunctive relief would not disturb the public interest.

As an initial matter, McDaniel specified in his notice of appeal that he sought to appeal the district court’s order dismissing his action. He did not mention the district court’s denial of his requests for injunctive relief. However, an appeal from a final judgment brings up for review all preceding non-final orders. Kirkland v. Nat’l Mortgage Network, Inc., 884 F.2d 1367 (11th Cir.1989). Accordingly, we will review McDaniel’s arguments regarding the denial of his requests for injunctive relief.

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194 F. App'x 610, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/danny-e-mcdaniel-v-james-mcdonough-ca11-2006.