Opinion
No. 01 Civ. 8993 (WK)
December 17, 2002
David Arnold, #94-A-4109, Green Haven Correctional Facility, Stormville, NY, For Plaintiff: (pro se).
Rebecca Ann Durden, Esq., Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York, New York, NY, For Defendants.
ORDER
On January 11, 2002, Plaintiff David Arnold ("Plaintiff") filed an Amended Complaint in which he asserted claims against Correctional Officers A. Goetz and W. Kelly, as well as against Sergeant A. Montegori (hereinafter collectively the "Defendants"), pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On March 7, 2002, the Defendants moved to dismiss the Plaintiff's action on the grounds that he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies and thereby failed to satisfy the exhaustion requirement imposed by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub.L. No. 104-134, Title VIII, 110 Stat. 1321-66 (1996) (codified in relevant part at 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a)).
As of yet, the Plaintiff has not yet indicated whether he is opposed to the dismissal of his action and has not submitted an opposition brief in response to the Defendants' motion. Before we address the merits of that motion without the benefit of any statement or opposition brief from the Plaintiff, we will afford him one last opportunity to submit such a brief. The submission of such a response would allow the Plaintiff to explain, for example, what he meant when he indicated in his Amended Complaint that he "did not know what to do" with respect to submitting a grievance even though he appeared to be aware that a grievance procedure was available at the correctional facility in question. (See Am. Compl. at 2-3.)
Accordingly, the Plaintiff may, if he so chooses, submit a brief opposing the motion to dismiss (as well as any necessary accompanying documents) on or before January 17, 2003. If the Plaintiff submits such a brief, the Defendants shall file a Reply thereto (which shall not exceed ten pages in length) on or before February 17, 2003.
SO ORDERED.