Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-03-40787/USCOURTS-ca5-03-40787-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 555
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Prison Condition
Cause of Action: 

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*Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that

this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except

under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

February 20, 2004

Charles R. Fulbruge III

Clerk

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

 

No. 03-40787

Summary Calendar

 

HENRY PARKER,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

versus

LOMO ADJETEY; CAROL A. MCAFEE,

Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Texas

USDC No. G-00-CV-625 

Before JONES, BENAVIDES and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

Henry Parker, Texas Inmate No. 287830, proceeding pro se

and in forma pauperis (“IFP”), appeals the district court’s

dismissal of his civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C.

§ 1997e for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Parker

contends that he could not exhaust administrative remedies because

he was hospitalized and in a coma. He asserts that when he was

released from the hospital, the 15-day period for filing a timely

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2

Step One grievance had expired. He asserts that he pursued the

only remedy that was available to him and that an attempt to file

a grievance would have been futile. Parker explains that the

prison’s grievance procedure prohibits the submission of grievances

based on incidents that occurred more than 30 days prior to the

submission of the grievance.

We review de novo the dismissal pursuant to 42 U.S.C.

§ 1997e of a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint for failure to exhaust

administrative remedies. Days v. Johnson, 322 F.3d 863, 865

(5th Cir. 2003). As amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) (West 2003)

provides that:

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.

Exhaustion is mandatory; and we have strictly construed the

exhaustion requirement of 42 U.S.C. § 1997e. Days, 322 F.3d

at 866.

In Days, a Texas inmate alleged that he was unable to

comply timely with the prison grievance procedure due to a serious

injury. We vacated the district court’s dismissal of his complaint

for failure to exhaust administrative remedies and remanded the

case. We determined that because Days’ injury prevented him from

timely filing a grievance and his untimely grievances were returned

unprocessed, Days had exhausted the administrative remedies that

were personally available to him. 322 F.3d at 867.

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Unlike the inmate in Days, Parker did not attempt to

exhaust the administrative remedies that were personally available

to him. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the dismissal of Parker’s civil

rights complaint for failure to exhaust available administrative

remedies.

AFFIRMED.

 Case: 03-40787 Document: 0051565462 Page: 3 Date Filed: 02/20/2004