Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_09-cv-00636/USCOURTS-azd-2_09-cv-00636-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 555
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Prison Condition
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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The Court sent the Notice required under Wyatt v. Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1120

n.14 (9th Cir. 2003); it was returned. (Doc. ##9, 10.) 

WO SVK

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Kenneth Theodore Spann, Jr.,

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Joseph Arpaio,

Defendant. 

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No. CV 09-0636-PHX-MHM (MEA)

ORDER

Plaintiff Kenneth Theodore Spann, Jr. filed this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C.

§ 1983 against Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio. (Doc. #1.) Defendant moves to

dismiss on the ground that Plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. (Doc. #7.)

Although the Court attempted to advise Plaintiff of his obligation to respond, Plaintiff filed

no response.1

The Court will grant the motion and terminate the case.

I. Background 

Plaintiff alleged in Count I of his Complaint that Arpaio sets policy and deliberately

instructs his staff to feed inmates only two meals per day. Plaintiff contended that the meals

are small and lack necessary calories and that there are more than12 hours between the two

meals. In Count II, he asserted that Arpaio deliberately sets policy and directs his staff to

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overcrowd the holding cells and that the conditions are unsanitary. The Court directed

Defendant to answer. (Doc. #4.)

II. Motion to Dismiss

A. Legal Standard

 Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), a prisoner must exhaust available

administrative remedies before bringing a federal action concerning prison conditions. See

42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a); Griffin v. Arpaio, 557 F.3d 1117, 1119 (9th Cir. 2009). Exhaustion

is required for all suits about prison life, Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 523 (2002),

regardless of the type of relief offered through the administrative process, Booth v. Churner,

532 U.S. 731, 741 (2001). And a prisoner must complete the administrative review process

in accordance with the applicable rules. See Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 92 (2006). 

Exhaustion is an affirmative defense. Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 212 (2007). Thus,

the defendant bears the burden of raising and proving the absence of exhaustion. Wyatt v.

Terhune, 315 F.3d 1108, 1119 (9th Cir. 2003). Because exhaustion is a matter of abatement

in an unenumerated Rule 12(b) motion, a court may look beyond the pleadings to decide

disputed issues of fact. Id. at 1119-20. Further, a court has broad discretion as to the

method to be used in resolving the factual dispute. Ritza v. Int’l Longshoremen’s &

Warehousemen’s Union, 837 F.2d 365, 369 (9th Cir. 1988) (quotation omitted).

B. Parties’ Contentions

 In support of his motion, Defendant submits the affidavit of Susan Fisher, an External

Coordinator with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). (Doc. #8, Fisher Aff. ¶

1.) Fisher attests that her duties include receipt, processing, tracking, and storage of inmate

grievances. (Id.) To initiate the informal grievance process, the inmate submits the

grievance form. If the detention officer cannot resolve the issue, the officer forwards the

grievance to the shift supervisor. If the shift supervisor cannot resolve the matter, the

grievance is forwarded to the hearing officer. (Id. ¶ 4.) If the inmate is not satisfied with the

outcome of the informal grievance process, he can file a formal grievance by filing the

Institutional Grievance Appeal with the Jail Commander. If he is not satisfied with the Jail

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Commander’s decision, the inmate may file an External Grievance Appeal, which is

forwarded to the External Referee. That person’s decision concludes the MCSO Grievance

process and exhausts the inmate’s administrative remedies. (Id. ¶ 5; Ex. A, MCSO Inmate

Grievance Procedure Policy DJ-3.) Defendant also submits a sample Inmate Grievance Form

and excerpts from the MCSO Rules and Regulations for Inmates. (Id., Exs. B, C.)

Fisher attests that no grievances by Plaintiff were found regarding overcrowding and

unsanitary intake/ booking or holding cells or regarding portions or quantities of food; in

fact, Plaintiff filed no grievances at all. (Id. ¶ 10.) She further attests that other inmates

housed at the Maricopa County Jail during Plaintiff’s period of incarceration have filed

grievances about overcrowded and unsanitary intake/booking or holding cells and about

quality and portions of food. (Id. ¶¶ 11-12.) 

Plaintiff filed no response. In his Complaint he alleged that he did not exhaust his

administrative remedies because the policies are non-grievable. (Doc. #1 at 3-4.) 

C. Analysis

Defendant has met his burden to establish the existence of a grievance procedure and

that Plaintiff failed to exhaust his remedies under it. Plaintiff fails to rebut Defendant’s

evidence of Plaintiff’s failure to exhaust. His conclusory statements in the Complaint that

the issues are not grievable are insufficient; Plaintiff does not even explain why he believes

these matters were not grievable, and Defendant provides evidence that other inmates filed

grievances on the same issues. 

The Court will grant Defendant’s motion and dismiss the claims without prejudice.

IT IS ORDERED:

(1) The reference to the Magistrate Judge is withdrawn as to Defendant’s Motion

to Dismiss (Doc. #7). 

(2) Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. #7) is granted.

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(3) The claims are dismissed without prejudice, and the Clerk of Court must enter

judgment accordingly.

DATED this 15th day of October, 2009.

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