Weston v. Miller

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS TEXARKANA DIVISION

CHRISTOPHER J. WESTON PLAINTIFF

v. Civil No. 4:20-cv-4077

SERGEANT MILLER, Nevada County Correctional Officer; KATY SHEETS; Nevada County Correctional Officer; OFFICER REYN BROWN, City of Prescott; and MS. BARNS, Nevada County Correctional Officer DEFENDANTS

ORDER Before the Court is the Report and Recommendation filed October 14, 2021, by the Honorable Barry A. Bryant, United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Arkansas. (ECF No. 39). Judge Bryant recommends that the Court grant Defendants Miller, Sheets, and Barnes’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 28) because Plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies before filing suit as required under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”). See 42 U.S.C § 1997e(a). Defendants filed the instant summary judgment motion seeking to dismiss the only remaining cause of action in Plaintiff’s Complaint, which alleges that Defendants tampered with Plaintiff’s legal mail while Plaintiff was incarcerated in the Nevada County Jail. (ECF No. 28). Judge Bryant found that the PLRA required Plaintiff to submit his allegations of legal mail tampering to Nevada County via the Jail’s official grievance procedures before filing this lawsuit. Judge Bryant recommends that Defendants’ summary judgment motion be granted and that Plaintiff’s Complaint be dismissed without prejudice because he failed to exhaust those administrative remedies before filing suit. Plaintiff filed timely objections to the Report and Recommendation. (ECF No. 40). However, Plaintiff’s objections fail to address Judge Bryant’s findings that Plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. Instead, Plaintiff’s objections contain conclusory assertions that fail to suggest how or why Plaintiff actually complied with the official grievance procedures

of Nevada County. Accordingly, Plaintiff’s objections are insufficient to trigger de novo review. Based on the forgoing, the Court agrees with the Report and Recommendation in that Plaintiff failed to exhaust the administrative procedures of the Nevada County jail before filing this lawsuit. Therefore, and otherwise finding no clear error on the face of the record, the Court adopts the Report and Recommendation (ECF No. 39) in toto. Plaintiff’s complaint is hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.1 IT IS SO ORDERED, this 24th day of January, 2022.

/s/ Susan O. Hickey Susan O. Hickey Chief United States District Judge

1 Claims that are dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies should be dismissed without prejudice. See Langford v. Norris, 614 F.3d 445, 457 (8th Cir. 2010).