Thomas v. Reese, No. 14-3406 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseThomas, a Wisconsin prisoner, was injured in the Dane County Jail, while being handcuffed after disobeying an order. Disciplinary proceedings followed. Pending his hearing, Thomas was placed in punitive segregation, where, he alleges, he did not have access to the inmate handbook he had received just the day before. The jail charged Thomas with violating several major rules, including those prohibiting physically contacting staff, acting in a disorderly manner, and expelling bodily fluids at another person. Thomas waived a disciplinary hearing and received 10 days of segregation as punishment, but was transferred back to state custody four days after the incident. About a year later, Thomas sued (42 U.S.C. 1983) the officers involved in the incident. Upon screening under 28 U.S.C. 1915A, the district court dismissed some claims and allowed his excessive force claim and his related claims for failure to intervene, retaliation, and battery to proceed, then dismissed those claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. 1997e(a). The Seventh Circuit reversed, finding that administrative remedies were not actually available. Thomas could not raise his grievance about the jail guards at his disciplinary hearing.
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