Episode Details

Opinion Summary: Perttu v. Richards | Date Decided: 6/18/25 | Case No. 23–1324

Link to Docket: Here.

Question Presented: In cases subject to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, do prisoners have a right to a jury trial concerning their exhaustion of administrative remedies where disputed facts regarding exhaustion are intertwined with the underlying merits of their claim?

Holding: Parties are entitled to a jury trial on PLRA exhaustion when that issue is intertwined with the merits of a claim that requires a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment.

Result: Affirmed.

Voting Breakdown: 5-4. Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch and Jackson joined. Justice Barrett filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh joined.

Link to Opinion: Here.

Oral Advocates:

• For petitioner: Ann M. Sherman, Solicitor General, Lansing, Mich.
• For respondent: Lori Alvino McGill, Charlottesville, Va.

Website Link to Oral Argument: Here.

Apple Podcast Link to Oral Argument: Here.