United States Seventh Circuit

In an interlocutory appeal from a decision finding that a prisoner plaintiff in a suit for damages governed by the Prison Litigation Reform Act is entitled by the Seventh Amendment to a jury trial on any debatable factual issues relating to the defense of failure to exhaust administrative remedies, the ruling is reversed and remanded where: 1) juries decide cases and not issues of judicial traffic control; 2) the court can conduct a hearing on exhaustion and permit whatever discovery relating to exhaustion is deemed appropriate; and 3) the court must first resolve the issue of exhaustion before discovery with respect to the merits is begun.

Appellate Information

• Argued 04/09/2008
• Decided 06/05/2008
• Published 06/05/2008

Judges

• POSNER, Circuit Judge., Before POSNER, RIPPLE, and MANION, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• David M. Friebus (argued), Babbitt, Land, Silverstein & Warner, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee., Thomas D. Quigley (argued), Office of the Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, for Defendants-Appellants.