LOVE v. LEITZ, 2:24-cv-00365

Joshua Love, an inmate at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, filed suit alleging Eighth Amendment violations, including inadequate medical care from Nurse Emily Enriquez after a correctional officer allegedly injured him.
The Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) has a three-step formal grievance process that must be fully completed to exhaust administrative remedies.
Love filed various grievances against different staff and incidents, but did not file a grievance specifically against Nurse Enriquez for medical treatment after the June 23, 2024 incident
The only grievance mentioning "Nurse Emily" (Enriquez) related primarily to the officer's conduct, not to any deficient medical care by Enriquez.
Love admitted in sworn filings that he had not fully exhausted his administrative remedies before suing, and that his second-level grievance appeal was filed after this lawsuit began.
The court considered and granted Nurse Enriquez's motion for summary judgment based on failure to exhaust, dismissing the claim against her without prejudice.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Love exhausted administrative remedies as to his claim against Nurse Enriquez	Claimed to have exhausted or been prevented from further exhaustion due to facility limitations	Argued no grievance directly concerned Enriquez's medical care, and no exhaustion prior to suit	Love failed to exhaust; claim dismissed without prejudice
Whether grievances mentioning Enriquez sufficed for exhaustion	Asserted Enriquez was included in overall grievance process	Stated mention was incidental; main grievance was against officer, not medical staff	Grievance did not adequately address medical care by Enriquez
Whether timing of lawsuit (before full grievance appeal) affected claim	Claimed process was exhausted to the extent possible	Identified that second-level appeal was filed after lawsuit initiated	Filing suit before full exhaustion barred the Eighth Amendment claim
Application of PLRA's exhaustion requirement	Suggested practical exhaustion given facility restrictions	PLRA requires strict, complete exhaustion per rules	PLRA requires full exhaustion; partial or practical not sufficient

Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516 (PLRA's exhaustion requirement applies to all inmate suits about prison life)
Dale v. Lappin, 376 F.3d 652 (PLRA exhaustion requires following all procedural rules of grievance process)
Ford v. Johnson, 362 F.3d 395 (Dismissals under PLRA exhaustion requirement must be without prejudice)