Warner v. Friedman

Background

Earl Warner, who identified himself as a member of the Jewish religion and a state prisoner in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, sued prison and corrections officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. His amended complaint alleged that he was denied a kosher religious diet and that prison officials responded improperly to his grievance about the food. The court had previously found cognizable claims under the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act against Trexler, Solis, Kostecky, Manuel, and Maurino. The court had dismissed other claims and defendants at earlier stages, including all claims against Friedman because Warner did not name Friedman in the amended complaint.

The served defendants moved for summary judgment based on Warner’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act and argued that they were entitled to qualified immunity. In the alternative, they moved for judgment on the pleadings for failure to state a claim. Warner did not file an opposition, although the court could consider specific factual allegations in his verified amended complaint as evidence when based on his personal knowledge.

Exhaustion requirement

The Prison Litigation Reform Act requires a prisoner to properly complete available prison grievance procedures before bringing a federal action about prison conditions. Under the California process described by the court, a prisoner generally must submit a prison appeal and pursue it through three levels of review, with the third-level decision completing the process. California’s regulations also require the appeal to identify all involved staff members and describe their involvement.

The defendants submitted records and a declaration from J. Spaich, the acting chief of the California Office of Appeals. Those records showed that Warner submitted twenty-two appeals that reached, or were considered for, third-level review during the relevant period. Only two concerned complaints about a kosher diet: CHCF 13-00097 and RJD 16-02054. Neither appeal identified the defendants in this case or described wrongdoing by them. The court also rejected Warner’s reliance on appeal SVSP-15-1749 because, even if he had submitted proof of that appeal, it concerned the food and the defendants’ response to it rather than whether the defendants themselves violated his rights by denying the appeal.

The court concluded that the defendants had shown both that an administrative remedy was available and that Warner had not completed it for his First Amendment and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act claims. Warner did not present evidence disputing the defendants’ records or showing that the grievance process was unavailable to him.

Ruling

The court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to all claims based on failure to exhaust administrative remedies. It stated that Warner’s First Amendment and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act claims were dismissed without prejudice to refiling after he exhausted California’s prison administrative process. The court denied as moot the defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings for failure to state a claim, directed the Clerk to close the file, and terminated the pending motion. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued and signed the order.