Brown v. Croak.

U.S. Appeals Court

ENFORCEMENT

Brown v. Croak, 312 F.3d 109 (3rd Cir. 2002). A state prisoner who was assaulted by other inmates brought a pro se action against prison officials alleging failure to protect and retaliation. The district court dismissed the action and the prisoner appealed. The appeals court vacated and remanded, finding that the inmate had not failed to exhaust his administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). The court held that although the prisoner did not attempt to file an administrative grievance for initial review, he alleged that he had asked to file a complaint and was told by prison officials that he had to wait until their investigation was complete. Several months later the prisoner had still not been told that the investigation was complete. The prisoner had been assaulted by other inmates who wanted to use the small single toilet that he was using in a cafeteria. The other inmates wanted to use the bathroom to smoke and the prisoner contended that the prison's failure to enforce its no-smoking policy caused his injuries. (State Correctional Institution, Houtzdale, Pennsylvania)