NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUL 29 2021
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
RODNEY KARL BLACKWELL, No. 20-55380
Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 2:17-cv-01811-GW-AGR
v.
MEMORANDUM*
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS AND
REHABILITATION; K. ESTRADA,
AGPA, Appeals Coordinator, LAC, in
official and individual capacity,
Defendant-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
George H. Wu, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted July 19, 2021**
Before: SCHROEDER, SILVERMAN, and MURGUIA, Circuit Judges.
California state prisoner Rodney Karl Blackwell appeals pro se from the
district court’s judgment dismissing for failure to exhaust his administrative
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
remedies his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging violations of the Eighth and
Fourteenth Amendments. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We
review de novo. Albino v. Baca, 747 F.3d 1162, 1171 (9th Cir. 2014) (en banc)
(legal rulings on exhaustion); Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 1113, 1118 (9th Cir.
2012) (dismissal for failure to state a claim). We affirm.
The district court properly dismissed Blackwell’s action because it was clear
from the face of Blackwell’s operative complaint that Blackwell failed to exhaust
available administrative remedies prior to filing suit. See Albino, 747 F.3d at 1169
(where a failure to exhaust is clear from the face of the complaint, a district court
may dismiss for failure to state a claim); McKinney v. Carey, 311 F.3d 1198, 1199-
1200 (9th Cir. 2002) (requiring inmates to exhaust administrative remedies prior to
filing suit in federal court).
We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued
in the opening brief, or arguments and allegations raised for the first time on
appeal. See Padgett v. Wright, 587 F.3d 983, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009).
AFFIRMED.
2 20-55380