NCJ Number
104935
Journal
Iowa Law Review Volume: 71 Issue: 4 Dated: (May 1986) Pages: 935-974
Date Published
1986
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This article describes and analyzes States' compliance with 42 U.S.C. section 1997e, which requires that a 90-day continuance of section 1983 inmate actions filed in Federal district court be granted while the inmate exhausts remedies provided by the State's federally certified prison grievance machinery.
Abstract
Section 1983 provides for civil action against persons acting under the 'color' of statute to deprive persons of their constitutional rights. State inmates have swelled Federal court dockets by using section 1983 to resolve a wide range of grievances that often do not involve constitutionally cognizable claims. Congress enacted section 1997e to obviate the filing of frivolous and petty claims by inmates. Too few States, however, have adopted inmate grievance procedures that have been certified under section 1997e. Most States reason that obtaining Federal approval for an inmate grievance mechanism is too burdensome or an unrealistic means for resolving inmate grievances. This article analyzes the three State plans certified to date by the Justice Department: Virginia, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Section 1997e's exhaustion requirement is contrasted with the continuing vitality of a nonexhaustion policy for other types of section 1983 suits. Appendixes detail the grievance procedures for the three States. 99 footnotes.