From Law 360:
The U.S. Supreme Court narrowly ruled on Wednesday that prisoners have a right to a jury trial when there's a factual dispute over whether they properly exhausted prison grievance procedures — a key requirement before suing over prison conditions under federal law.
The 5-4 decision in Perttu v. Richards expands access to the courts for incarcerated people and clarifies the role of juries in determining whether an incarcerated person or persons have satisfied a particular prison's internal grievance process before filing a civil rights lawsuit, a requirement called "exhaustion" mandated by the Prison Litigation Reform Act, or PLRA.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, emphasized that PLRA exhaustion is an affirmative defense, subject to the usual rules of civil procedure that send intertwined factual disputes to a jury. Continue reading >>>
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