Opinion ID: 3034592
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Lira’s Case

Text: [13] The resolution of this case thus largely boils down to a question of whether it will be the district court or the prisoner who excises the unexhausted claims, either through dismissal or amendment, respectively. The district court’s dismissal of Lira’s case turned on its implicit, but not fully discussed, interpretation of Lira’s complaint as presenting multiple claims regarding his validation as a Northern Structure gang member. It correlated the number of grievances filed within the California prison system with the number of claims within his complaint, and therefore did not regard his complaint as presenting a single due process claim challenging the unavailability of the evidence used against him and resulting in his placement and retention in administrative segregation. 14944 LIRA v. HERRERA [14] Lira has argued to this court, having received counsel since his last appearance in district court, that his complaint actually presents “a constellation of due process violations for his validation as a gang associate and his placement and retention in the administrative segregation at [DVI] and the SHU at Pelican Bay” that amounted to a single, exhausted claim.13 Given that the district court considered Lira’s case under the misapprehension that dismissal of the entire action was mandated if the complaint was partially defective, we remand to the district court for further proceedings. If the district judge again determines that Lira’s due process claim consists of both exhausted and unexhausted claims that are intertwined, the proper course of action is for the district court (1) to allow Lira to amend his complaint so that it refers to only his fully exhausted 1996 grievance, and (2) to consider, on the merits, whether Lira states a viable due process claim on the basis of his fully exhausted 1996 grievance. REVERSED AND REMANDED. 13 Although we recognize that there is force to Lira’s argument, we leave it to the district court to consider this new characterization of Lira’s due process claim in the first instance.