Abstract
This Note addresses this issue and recommends that excessive force claims be subject to the PLRA's exhaustion requirement, thereby requiring an inmate to exhaust administrative remedies before filing an excessive force suit in federal court. Requiring exhaustion for excessive force claims will help solve the problems associated with the overabundance of frivolous prisoner litigation and the federal judiciary's unnecessary interference into the nation's prison administrations. Moreover, the excessive force issue is in the forefront because the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Porter v. Nussle, a case dealing exclusively with this issue. The lower court, in Nussle v. Willette, allowed an inmate plaintiffs excessive force claim even though the plaintiff failed to exhaust administrative remedies. This decision caused a kink in what seemed to be a consensus among the United States Appellate Courts' requiring exhaustion. Therefore, the Supreme Court's decision in Porter may provide the possible conclusion to a debate that began in the courts with the PLRA.
Recommended Citation
Note, To Exhaust or Not to Exhaust: The Prisoner Litigation Reform Act Requires Prisoners to Exhaust All Administrative Remedies before Filing Excessive Force Claims in Federal Court, 50 Clev. St. L. Rev. 129 (2002-2003)