Benjamin Carter v. Beth Cabell
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Case Summary
Disposition
Vacated
The Fourth Circuit vacated the district court’s summary judgment that had dismissed prisoner Benjamin Carter’s § 1983 suit for failure to exhaust under the PLRA. The court held that Carter’s First Amendment retaliation claims were exhausted because they were first raised in an amended complaint filed after exhaustion, and it remanded for fact-finding on whether administrative remedies were truly available for his Eighth Amendment claims and for reconsideration of certain Rule 12(b)(6) dismissals.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether, under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a)), the date of an amended complaint or the date of the original complaint controls the exhaustion inquiry, particularly for claims first raised in the amended pleading.
Circuit Positions
Amended complaint’s filing date governs PLRA exhaustion for all claims pleaded in the amended complaint.
Amended complaint’s filing date governs exhaustion only for claims first raised in that amended complaint; original complaint’s date governs claims already pleaded.
Amended complaint supersedes allegations but not timing; original complaint’s filing date always governs PLRA exhaustion.
Conflict Summary
Circuits are divided over how an amended complaint affects PLRA exhaustion. The Third and Ninth Circuits treat the amended complaint’s filing date as controlling for all claims. The Seventh and Sixth Circuits (joined here by the Fourth) hold that the amended complaint controls only for claims first introduced in that pleading, while the original complaint’s timing governs earlier-asserted claims. The Tenth Circuit maintains that an amended complaint supersedes allegations but not timing, so the original complaint’s filing date controls exhaustion altogether.