47. Transfers.

U.S. District Court

MEDICAL CARE

McCray v. First State Medical System, 379 F.Supp.2d 635 (D.Del. 2005). A prisoner brought a [section] 1983 action against the state prison system's health care provider, alleging deliberate indifference to his medical needs. The district court granted the provider's motion to dismiss. The court held that the claim was subject to the exhaustion requirement of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and that the prisoner failed to exhaust remedies. The prisoner attributed his failure to file a grievance to his blood sugar level being out of control at the time of the incident. The court also held that the prisoner failed to state a cause of action with his claim that his rights were violated by a 2-hour commute to another prison facility. Officials had transferred the prisoner to another prison for a medical procedure, rather than using a local hospital. (Gander Hill Correctional Institution, and Delaware Correctional Center, Delaware)

U.S. Appeals Court

RETALIATION

Siggers-El v. Barlow, 412 F.3d 693 (6th Cir. 2005). A state prisoner brought an action against a prison block officer, alleging that the officer transferred him to another prison in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights when he complained to the officer's supervisors that the officer had failed to authorize disbursements of money from his prison account to pay his lawyer to review his appellate brief and file. The district court denied the officer's motion for summary judgment and the officer appealed. The appeals court affirmed. The court held that the prisoner engaged in protected conduct when he informed the officer's supervisor about the refusal to release funds, for the purposes of his First Amendment retaliation claim. The court found that the officer took an adverse action against the prisoner even though the officer's action simply made the prisoner eligible for a routine transfer, and the violation involved a clearly established right of which a reasonable officer would have been aware. (Michigan...