Talley v. Clark, United States Court of Appeals for the Third District Circuit filed August 1, 2024.
OPINION OF THE COURT
HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.
Quintez Talley, a Pennsylvania inmate, appeals the District Court’s order dismissing his federal civil rights claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). Talley alleged he was unable to exhaust because he lacked access to grievance forms and writing implements while he was held in restrictive custody. The District Court held that Talley should have requested permission to file a late grievance under the state prison system’s written policy. Because Talley’s failure to do so rendered his federal claims unexhausted, we will affirm.
Requests to extend the 15-day deadline are part of the Pennsylvania prison administrative remedial scheme. Talley’s scenario falls within policy 804 § 1.C.2.e’s broad provision of an administrative avenue for relief from the grievance deadline on “any basis.” Talley was thus required to pursue this remedy when the impediment no longer existed on February 9, 2018. Because Talley did not do so, he failed to exhaust as required by the PLRA. To hold otherwise would vitiate the exhaustion requirement whenever a prisoner’s severe illness or placement in restrictive confinement for safety concerns temporarily precludes access to the grievance process, which is not an uncommon impediment for Talley. In sum, the PLRA requires “the inmate [to] err on the side of exhaustion,” and Talley did not do so here.
Pennsylvania’s written prison grievance procedure requires prisoners to request an extension of the 15-day deadline to file a grievance. Talley’s lack of access to grievance forms and writing implements in time to meet the 15-day deadline did not obviate his duty to request an extension of the deadline when his access was restored. His failure to pursue an extension rendered his federal claims unexhausted under the PLRA. So we will affirm the District Court’s order dismissing the complaint.
