F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
PUBLISH
JUN 17 2003
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
TENTH CIRCUIT
MATTHEW J. BEAUDRY;
KEITH PISCHKE,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v. No. 02-6073
CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF
AMERICA, a Tennessee Corporation;
ARCHIE WELCH, VINCENT
SCOTT, BRETT MARRIOTT,
GARY HALL, and JERRY SMITH,
Corrections Officers; STEVE
WILSON; SCOTT EATON,
Defendants-Appellees,
and
RICK HUDSON, Warden;
JOHN DOES, Employees/Personnel,
Defendants.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
(D.C. Nos. 99-CV-910-M and 01-CV-604-M)
Submitted on the briefs:
Matthew J. Beaudry, Pro Se, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Darrell L. Moore, Pryor, Oklahoma, for Defendants-Appellees.
Before SEYMOUR , HENRY , and BRISCOE , Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM .
Introduction
Plaintiffs, two inmates of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections,
brought a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 seeking damages for the alleged violation
of their rights under the Eighth Amendment stemming from injuries sustained
when defendants locked them in their cells and sprayed them with tear gas during
a riot at the North Fork Correctional Facility (NFCF) in Sayre, Oklahoma. In
addition to their § 1983 claim, plaintiffs also requested declaratory and injunctive
relief and brought a state-law tort claim of assault and battery. Defendants are
Corrections Corporation of America, Inc. (CCA) the owner and operator of NFCF,
and certain of its employees. The district court dismissed plaintiffs’ § 1983 claim
prior to trial for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. A jury later found for
defendants on the assault and battery claim.
On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the district court erred in dismissing their
§ 1983 claim for failure to exhaust and contend that the court should have given
particular jury instructions in the subsequent trial. Plaintiffs also raise questions
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about the performance of their appointed counsel. 1
After reviewing the parties’
briefs, the record, and the applicable law, we affirm. 2
Dismissal of § 1983 Claim for Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies
Although plaintiffs’ opening brief raises serious issues about the
application of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PLRA) to private
defendants, the majority of plaintiffs’ PLRA-related issues were not raised in the
district court. We will therefore not consider whether PLRA applies to private
prisons nor plaintiffs’ sub-issues–whether a private prison can be considered an
“institution” under PLRA, and whether a private prison grievance procedure can
be considered an “available remedy” for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a).
See Walker v. Mather (In re Walker) , 959 F.2d 894, 896 (10th Cir. 1992) (noting
general rule that issues not raised in the district court will not be considered on
appeal). We decline to make an exception to this rule as urged by plaintiffs.
1
An issue arose in this case as to the timeliness of plaintiffs’ notice of
appeal. After review of the record and the parties’ jurisdictional briefs, we
conclude that the notice of appeal may be considered timely under the prison
mailbox rule. See Houston v. Lack , 487 U.S. 266, 276 (1988) (holding that pro se
prisoner’s notice of appeal deemed filed when delivered to prison officials for
forwarding to the district court). Because the date on the face of the notice of
appeal raises an inference that plaintiffs relinquished control over the document
on January 3, 2002, the notice of appeal will be considered as timely filed.
2
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of
this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is
therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
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See Smith v. Rogers Galvanizing Co. , 128 F.3d 1380, 1386 (10th Cir. 1997)
(noting deviation from the rule “only in the most unusual circumstances, which
may include issues regarding jurisdiction and sovereign immunity, instances
where public interest is implicated, or where manifest injustice would result”
(quotation omitted)).
Plaintiffs did, however, preserve one PLRA-related issue for appeal by
raising it in the hearing on exhaustion, alluding to it in their opening brief,
and developing it more fully in their reply brief: namely whether plaintiffs
actually had an “available remedy” even though defendants’ grievance
procedures specifically listed “State and Federal court decisions” and
“State and Federal laws and regulation[s]” as “non-grievable matters.”
See R., Doc. 105, Ex. A at 2. 3
In analyzing this issue, we will assume, without
deciding, that PLRA applies to private prisons.
3
Although this court generally does not review issues raised for the first
time in a reply brief, Stump v. Gates , 211 F.3d 527, 533 (10th Cir. 2000), we
make an exception when the new issue argued in the reply brief is offered in
response to an argument raised in the appellee’s brief, see Sadeghi v. INS , 40 F.3d
1139, 1143 (10th Cir. 1994). In their answer brief, defendants contend that
plaintiffs failed to raise PLRA-related arguments in the district court. We will
thus address the available remedies argument even though it is only fully
presented in plaintiffs’ reply brief.
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Before suing over prison conditions, a prisoner must exhaust “such
administrative remedies as are available.” 42 U.S.C. § 1917e(a). 4
As noted
above, in their complaint plaintiffs state a § 1983 claim for damages stemming
from the alleged violation of their rights under the Eighth Amendment and a
state-based claim for tort damages from assault and battery. At the exhaustion
hearing, plaintiffs explained that they did not file a prison grievance because they
understood that the claims put forth in their complaint were “non-grievable”
under prison policy. Thus, plaintiffs argue, they had no “available remedy” and
were not required to exhaust via the prison grievance procedure.
In Booth v. Churner , 532 U.S. 731 (2001), decided while this case was
pending in the district court, the Supreme Court determined that a prisoner
seeking only money damages must exhaust prison administrative remedies where
the prison process could provide some relief but could not provide the money
damages demanded. Id. at 734. Stated another way, the Court examined
“whether or not a remedial scheme is ‘available’ where . . . the administrative
process has authority to take some action in response to a complaint, but not
4
The pertinent part of 42 U.S.C. § 1917e(a) provides:
No action shall be brought with respect to prison
conditions under section 1983 of this title, or any other
Federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or
other correctional facility until such administrative
remedies as are available are exhausted.
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the remedial action an inmate demands to the exclusion of all other forms of
redress.” Id. at 736.
At the outset of its opinion in Booth , the Court noted that it was assuming
“that some redress for a wrong is presupposed by the statute’s requirement of an
‘available’ ‘remedy.’” Id. Neither party in Booth had argued “that exhaustion is
required where the relevant administrative procedure lacks authority to provide
any relief or to take any action whatsoever in response to a complaint.” Id.
The Court noted in a footnote: “Without the possibility of some relief, the
administrative officers would presumably have no authority to act on the subject
of the complaint, leaving the inmate with nothing to exhaust.” Id. n.4. Plaintiffs
argue that, because matters involving state and federal law and regulations were
“non-grievable matters” under prison procedures, they are like the hypothetical
inmate referred to in Booth with nothing to exhaust. Plaintiffs fail, however, to
appreciate the import of their complaint taken as a whole.
In Booth , the Supreme Court explained that one of the purposes of the
exhaustion requirement is to force an inmate to go through the administrative
process which in turn might afford prison officials the opportunity to take some
corrective action that would preclude litigation. Id. at 737. The Court further
noted that exhaustion potentially filters out frivolous claims and ultimately
clarifies the contours of the controversy in cases that eventually reach the courts.
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Id. In this case, these policy reasons are particularly pertinent. Plaintiffs’
complaint requested not only money damages but also “injunctive” relief in the
form of adequate weapons training for defendants’ employees, medical attention
to inmates injured in the gassing incident, and decontamination of affected areas
of the prison. While this prayer for relief is couched as a request for various
injunctions, we think this is exactly the type of situation to which the Court in
Booth was referring when it outlined the benefits of exhaustion. “[E]xhaustion in
these circumstances would produce administrative results that would satisfy at
least some inmates who start out asking for nothing but money, since the very fact
of being heard and prompting administrative change can mollify passions even
when nothing ends up in the pocket.” Id. at 737. Further, “[i]n come instances,
corrective action taken in response to an inmate’s grievance might improve prison
administration and satisfy the inmate, thereby obviating the need for litigation.”
Porter v. Nussle , 534 U.S. 516, 525 (2002) (citing Booth , 532 U.S. at 737).
Plaintiffs’ demands for weapons training for corrections officers, medical care,
and decontamination are all matters which the prison administration could affect.
Even though matters involving federal and state law and regulation were
“non-grievable” under prison policy, the fact that prison authorities did have the
power to render some of the relief requested by plaintiffs puts this case squarely
within the ambit of Booth. Plaintiffs were required to exhaust their administrative
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remedies before bringing their § 1983 claim, and the district court was correct in
so holding. 5
Jury Instructions
Plaintiffs next argue that the district court should have given a “missing
evidence” instruction allowing the jury to infer that certain evidence not produced
by defendants, specifically video footage of the gassing incident and incident
5
Plaintiffs cite Basham v. Uphoff , No. 98-8013, 1998 WL 847689, at *4
(10th Cir. Dec. 8, 1998), an unpublished decision from this court, to argue that
they alleged exhaustion in their complaint with sufficient specificity to avoid
dismissal on that ground. In Basham , however, this court was reviewing a
sua sponte dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(b) made solely on the basis of
the pleadings and before any proof on the exhaustion issue had been offered.
Under those circumstances, we agreed with the Fifth Circuit that because
“‘[d]ismissal under § 1997e is made on pleadings without proof[, a]s long as the
plaintiff has alleged exhaustion with sufficient specificity, lack of admissible
evidence in the record does not form the basis for dismissal.’” Id. (quoting
Underwood v. Wilson , 151 F.3d 292, 296 (5th Cir. 1998)). Here, the decision on
exhaustion was made on the eve of trial and only after a full hearing in open
court. At that stage of the proceedings, once defendants raised the exhaustion
issue, the court quite properly addressed it, considering all available evidence.
The holding in Basham has no application to this circumstance.
Nor are we persuaded that the district court erred in not finding that
defendants had waived their exhaustion defense by waiting so late to raise it. The
statutory exhaustion requirement of § 1997e(a) is mandatory, and the district court
was not authorized to dispense with it. See Beharry v. Ashcroft , No. 02-2171,
2003 WL 1989608, at *5 (2d Cir. May 1, 2003) (applying Booth and explaining
the difference between statutory and judicial or “common law” exhaustion
doctrine); see also Perez v. Wis. Dep’t of Corr. , 182 F.3d 532, 536 (7th Cir. 1999)
(noting that when defendants assert their rights under § 1997e(a), “the judge must
address the subject immediately”).
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statements from officers on the scene, would have been unfavorable to
defendants. They also argue that the jury instructions on the standard for reckless
disregard for the rights of others, to be applied as a preliminary matter to the
consideration of whether to award punitive damages, should have been given with
regard to all defendants, not just defendants CCA and Welch. They argue further
that the “reckless disregard” instruction should have allowed the jury to consider
whether defendants alternatively acted intentionally and with malice toward
plaintiffs. Because plaintiffs did not raise any of these jury instruction issues in
the district court, our review is for plain error. Medlock v. Ortho Biotech, Inc. ,
164 F.3d 545, 553 (10th Cir. 1999). 6
Under the plain error standard, plaintiffs “must show: (1) an error, (2) that
is plain, which means clear or obvious under current law, and (3) that affects
substantial rights.” United States v. Fabiano , 169 F.3d 1299, 1303 (10th Cir.
1999) (quotation and citation omitted). Under this standard, we may correct an
error if it “seriously affect[s] the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of
judicial proceedings.” Id. (quoting United States v. Olano , 507 U.S. 725, 732
6
While plaintiffs did propose the instructions they now urge should have
been used, they did not apparently explain to the court their objections to the
instructions as given. Merely tendering proposed instructions to a court is
insufficient to comply with the strictures of Fed. R. Civ. P. 51 which require that
a party objecting to the giving or failure to give a particular instruction must state
“distinctly the matter objected to and the grounds of the objection.” Pena v.
Leombruni , 200 F.3d 1031, 1035 (7th Cir. 1999).
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(1993)). “[W]e view [instructions] as a whole to determine whether the jury may
have been misled, upholding the judgment in the absence of substantial doubt that
the jury was fairly guided.” Id. (quoting United States v. Wiktor , 146 F.3d 815,
817 (10th Cir. 1998)).
With regard to the missing evidence instruction, this court has held that,
absent a showing of bad faith, failure to produce evidence is not sufficient to
warrant such an instruction. See Higgins v. Martin Marietta Corp. , 752 F.2d 492,
496 (10th Cir. 1985). The only allusion here to bad faith is plaintiffs’ statement
in their opening brief that “[i]n cases in which discovery was sufficiently pointed
and vigorous by one party and thwarted by the stonewalling tactics of the
opposing party; [sic] the requirement of a ‘missing evidence’ jury instruction
should be made mandatory.” Aplt. Opening Br. at 18. Plaintiffs point to no
evidence in the record to substantiate this implicit charge of bad faith. Under
these circumstances, the district court’s refusal to give a missing evidence
instruction was not plain error.
As to the precise contours of the tendered instruction regarding reckless
disregard of plaintiffs’ rights, we note that this instruction would not have even
come into play unless the jury had first decided to award plaintiffs actual
damages. Because the jury did not award actual damages, it never had an
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occasion to consider this instruction. There can be no plain error in this
circumstance.
Assistance of Counsel
Plaintiffs contend that their trial counsel withdrew from the case without
first notifying them and without either filing post-trial motions or informing them
of the opportunity for them to do so. We are unsure what plaintiffs want from
this court regarding this matter. In their opening brief, plaintiffs state, “this
Honorable Court must decide if counsel failed to object to the district court on not
providing a ‘missing evidence’ instruction and failed to file the proper after
verdict motions for Plaintiffs before withdrawing.” Id. at 20. While we assume
plaintiffs are attempting to bring some sort of ineffective assistance of counsel
charge, we note that plaintiffs have no Sixth Amendment right to counsel in a
civil case. See Cullins v. Crouse , 348 F.2d 887, 889 (10th Cir. 1965). Counsel’s
performance, however deficient, would not therefore form the basis for reversal
of the trial court.
The judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District
of Oklahoma is AFFIRMED.
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