Justices Will Hear Appeal on Inmate’s Trial Right in Speech Case

A ruling by the Sixth Circuit said that an inmate was entitled to a jury trial on his First Amendment retaliation claims despite not having exhausted his administrative remedies will be reviewed by the US Supreme Court.

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that because Kyle Richards’ First Amendment claim was intertwined with the exhaustion issue, the Seventh Amendment guaranteed him a right to a jury trial. There’s a circuit split on the issue, with the Seventh Circuit holding that “‘any finding that the judge makes, relating to exhaustion, that might affect the merits may be ...