Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-09-02828/USCOURTS-ca8-09-02828-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Leann K. Bertsch
Appellee
Tim Schuetzle
Appellee
State of North Dakota
Appellee
LeRoy K. Wheeler
Appellant

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Daniel L. Hovland, United States District Judge for the District

of North Dakota, adopting the report and recommendations of the Honorable Charles

S. Miller, Jr., United States Magistrate Judge for the District of North Dakota. 

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 09-2828

___________

LeRoy K. Wheeler, *

*

Appellant, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* District of North Dakota.

Tim Schuetzle; Leann K. Bertsch; *

State of North Dakota, * [UNPUBLISHED]

*

Appellees. *

___________

Submitted: March 24, 2010

Filed: March 29, 2010

___________

Before BYE, RILEY, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Inmate LeRoy K. Wheeler (Wheeler) brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action

claiming prison staff retaliated against him and disclosed his confidential

communications to other inmates. As relevant, the district court1

 granted adverse

summary judgment, dismissing Wheeler’s retaliation claim without prejudice for

failure to exhaust administrative remedies and dismissing his disclosure claim with

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prejudice for failure to raise any triable issue. On appeal, Wheeler contends the court

erred in denying him leave to amend his complaint and in granting summary

judgment. 

We find no reversible error in the denial of Wheeler’s first motion to amend his

complaint to add allegations about the prison’s photocopying policy and its policy

regarding inmates with infectious diseases working in the kitchen. See Holloway v.

Dobbs, 715 F.2d 390, 393 n.3 (8th Cir. 1983) (per curiam) (concluding any error in

denying leave to amend the complaint before a responsive pleading was filed was

harmless, because the amended complaint failed to state a claim); see also Lewis v.

Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 348-49 (1996) (holding that a prisoner bringing an

access-to-courts claim must show the alleged inadequacies in the prison policy caused

an actual injury); Jacob v. Clarke, 129 Fed. Appx. 326, 330 (8th Cir. 2005)

(unpublished per curiam) (dismissing an appeal for lack of jurisdiction where an

inmate could not allege facts sufficient to demonstrate an unreasonable or “pervasive

risk of harm” caused by a prison’s policy of allowing inmates with HIV or hepatitis

to work in its kitchen). We also find no error in the denial of the second motion to

amend, which sought reconsideration of the previously proposed amendments and

purported to add new claims without alleging any new facts. See In re NVE Corp.

Sec. Litig., 527 F.3d 749, 752 (8th Cir. 2008) (reviewing de novo a denial of leave to

amend based on futility); Martin v. Sargent, 780 F.2d 1334, 1337 (8th Cir. 1985)

(requiring a pro se complaint to contain specific facts supporting its conclusions). We

find no abuse of discretion in the denial of Wheeler’s third motion to amend, filed

after the amendment deadline. See Popoalii v. Corr. Med. Servs., 512 F.3d 488,

497-98 (8th Cir. 2008). 

Having carefully reviewed the record, we agree with the district court that

Wheeler failed to exhaust administrative remedies before bringing his retaliation

claim; and there is no evidence prison staff prevented exhaustion. See Johnson v.

Jones, 340 F.3d 624, 627 (8th Cir. 2003) (holding that 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) requires

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an inmate to exhaust available administrative remedies before filing suit; otherwise,

dismissal is mandatory). We also agree Wheeler failed to raise a genuine issue of

material fact as to his disclosure claim. See Johnson v. Blaukat, 453 F.3d 1108, 1112

(8th Cir. 2006) (reviewing a grant of summary judgment de novo). We affirm. 

______________________________

Appellate Case: 09-2828 Page: 3 Date Filed: 03/29/2010 Entry ID: 3649103