Gamage v. Cabe , 125 F. App'x 572 ( 2005 )


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  •                                                                        United States Court of Appeals
    Fifth Circuit
    F I L E D
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT                              April 5, 2005
    Charles R. Fulbruge III
    Clerk
    No. 04-60563
    Summary Calendar
    MELVIN GAMAGE,
    Plaintiff-Appellant,
    versus
    LORENZO CABE, Doctor,
    Defendant-Appellee.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Northern District of Mississippi
    USDC No. 4:04-CV-27-M-D
    Before JONES, BARKSDALE and PRADO, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:*
    Melvin Gamage, Mississippi prisoner #56705, has appealed
    the district court’s order denying his application for leave to
    proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) and ordering his 
    42 U.S.C. § 1983
    case       closed   on   the   ground       that   he   had   failed     to    exhaust
    administrative remedies by pursuing relief through the prison
    grievance       system.        In     his   complaint,    Gamage    alleged        that
    Dr. Lorenzo Cabe was deliberately indifferent to his serious
    *
    Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this
    opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited
    circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
    medical needs during the course of Dr. Cabe’s treatment of Gamage’s
    in-grown toenail.
    Prisoners who wish to seek relief under 
    42 U.S.C. § 1983
    are required to exhaust their prison administrative remedies prior
    to filing their complaint irrespective of the type of relief
    sought. See 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a); Ferrington v. Louisiana Dep’t of
    Corr., 
    315 F.3d 529
    , 531 (5th Cir. 2002).     Whether the district
    court procedurally erred, or did not err, in denying IFP and
    administratively closing the case on the basis of failure to
    exhaust, compare Watson v. Ault, 
    525 F.2d 886
    , 891-92 (5th Cir.
    1976), because the record shows that Gamage had not exhausted his
    administrative remedies at the time he filed his complaint on
    February 2, 2004, and because his deliberate-indifference claim is
    without merit, the error, if any, was harmless.       Alexander v.
    Tippah County, Miss., 
    351 F.3d 626
    , 630 (5th Cir. 2003); Varnado v.
    Lynaugh, 
    920 F.2d 320
    , 321 (5th Cir. 1991).    The judgment of the
    district court is AFFIRMED.
    AFFIRMED.
    2