Opinion ID: 2998723
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dole’s grievance

Text: On April 15, 2002, Dole completed a grievance form, complaining about the excessive force that he alleged the guards at Menard had used. The grievance stated that he had been beaten until a nurse stopped the guards, and that two disciplinary reports detailing his conduct during the incident were false. As relief, Dole requested that the officers who beat him be fired, that he be transferred from Tamms, that the disciplinary charge against him be dropped, and that he be paid one million dollars in damages. Dole believed that the Assistant Warden of Tamms, who had just moved from the Assistant Warden position at Menard, was taking a suspiciously active role in Dole’s affairs at Tamms. He therefore wished to retain a copy of his complaint in case it was “lost” by prison authorities. He did not have access to a copy machine, so he copied the entire complaint by hand. He handed the original form to his counselor at Tamms on April 19. On April 22, the counselor returned the grievance to him, with a note indicating that it needed to be submitted directly to the ARB since the incident had occurred at Menard and not Tamms. 6 No. 05-1868 That same day, he placed his complaint in an envelope addressed to the ARB. He placed the envelope in the “chuckhole” of his cell for the guard to pick up and mail. This was the only procedure that was available to him to mail his grievance. The defendants agree that the guard took the envelope. Dole submitted two grievances to the Tamms Grievance Officer on April 18, four days before he mailed the grievance at issue in this case. In one, he complained of being put on suicide watch as retaliation for hitting Assistant Warden Frentzel. The ARB denied that appeal on July 25. In the other grievance, he complained about being transferred to Tamms. The ARB denied that appeal on July 24. After Dole received decisions from the ARB on his other two appeals, he wrote to the ARB to inquire about the status of his third grievance, the one at issue in this case. He was told that the ARB had no record of the grievance. The letter did not contain any instructions on how Dole should proceed. By this time, the sixty day period for filing a timely grievance had passed. Dole did not attempt to re-file his complaint as untimely.