Supreme Court Remands PLRA Case

The Supreme Court, in remanding a Prison Litigation Reform Act case to the circuit court, hints that administrative remedies provided by the state were so confusing that they effectively became “unavailable.”

Ross v. Blake, U.S., No. 15-339, 6/6/16.

After a complaint under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), an inmate’s case will be remanded back to the circuit court after the Supreme Court received new documents detailing the state’s confusing administrative remedies provided to prisoners, which the Supreme Court suggested that the remedies were so confusing that they negate any administrative relief.

Initially, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine if special circumstance could be created under the PLRA for an inmate who thought he exhausted every remedy before filing a civil suit, but did not. After receiving new documents detailing the administrative procedures provided by the state for inmates, the case was remanded back to the circuit court to review the same question in light of the new documents being provided by the parties.

Additionally, the Supreme Court asked the circuit court to determine whether “Maryland officials thwarted the effective invocation of the administration process through threats, game-playing, or misrepresentations, either on a system-wide basis or in the individual case[.]”

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/15-339_1b7d.pdf