Page:Dupree v. Younger.pdf/4

2 after that process, either party can move for summary judgment under Rule 56, which requires a district court to enter judgment on a claim or defense if there is “no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 56(a).

If the plaintiff’s claims survive summary judgment, the case proceeds to trial. After the presentation of evidence, but before the case is submitted to the jury, Rule 50(a) authorizes either party to move for judgment as a matter of law. This standard largely “mirrors” the summary-judgment standard, the difference being that district courts evaluate Rule 50(a) motions in light of the trial record rather than the discovery record. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U. S. 242, 250–251 (1986).

If the district court does not grant the motion, then the jury will render a verdict. After the verdict, Rule 50(b) permits a disappointed party to file a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law (which may also include a request for a new trial under Rule 59). The next step for a party who fails to obtain post-trial relief is an appeal.

While Kevin Younger was being held as a pretrial detainee in a Maryland state prison, three corrections officers assaulted him. Younger believed that Neil Dupree, a former lieutenant in the prison, had ordered the attack. He sued Dupree and other prison officials for damages under 42 U. S. C. §1983, alleging that they had used excessive force in violation of his Fourteenth Amendment due process rights.

Dupree moved for summary judgment, arguing that Younger had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U. S. C.