Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-06-02971/USCOURTS-ca8-06-02971-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 

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United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 06-2971

___________

Anthony B. Cook, *

*

Appellant, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* Eastern District of Missouri.

Steve Long, Asst. Director, Division *

Adult Institutions; Chuck Dwyer, * [UNPUBLISHED]

Superintendent of SECC; Johnny *

Williams, Functional Unit Manager; *

Unknown Roach, C.O.I.; Unknown *

Holmes, C.O.I.; Unknown Williams, *

C.O.I., *

Appellees. *

___________

Submitted: October 19, 2007

Filed: November 5, 2007

___________

Before BYE, RILEY, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Missouri inmate Anthony B. Cook appeals the district court’s dismissal of his

42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for failure to exhaust his administrative remedies. We

reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Cook filed this action naming six defendants; service was effected on three

defendants who sought dismissal of the complaint based on Cook’s failure to state a

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claim and to exhaust his administrative remedies. After granting Cook additional time

to respond, the district court dismissed the entire suit because Cook had not

administratively exhausted all of his claims.

Under 42 U.S.C. 1997e(a), a prisoner must exhaust all available administrative

remedies before a civil action can be brought with respect to prison conditions. See

Graves v. Norris, 218 F.3d 884, 885 (8th Cir. 2000) (per curiam). The Supreme Court

recently clarified that administrative exhaustion is an affirmative defense that

defendants have the burden to plead and prove, see Jones v. Bock, 127 S. Ct. 910,

919-22 (2007), and that a lawsuit should not be dismissed in its entirety because some

claims are unexhausted, see id. at 923-26.

We therefore vacate the district court’s order and remand for the court to

dismiss only those claims that are unexhausted.

Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with

this opinion. Cook’s pending motions are denied.

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