Abuse of the Grievance Process

(1) All grievances must be presented in good faith and for good cause. Inmates shall not deliberately misuse the grievance process. (2) Inmates who misuse the grievance process by filing any combination of five or more non-grievable, clearly frivolous, and/or repetitious grievances in 180 consecutive day period are subject to suspension of grievance privileges and/or disciplinary action. (3) Inmates who misuse the grievance process by knowingly submitting false documents, intentionally and in bad faith misrepresenting or omitting material information or utilizing threatening or abusive language or language that otherwise constitutes a violation of 103 CMR 430.00: Inmate Discipline, are subject to suspension of grievance privileges and/or disciplinary action. (4) An inmate who files five or more grievances in a week or 20 or more grievances in any 180 consecutive day period may be determined to be abusing the grievance procedure. However, abuse shall not be determined solely on the number of grievances. The assessment shall also take into consideration the nature of the grievances and whether or not any other abuse factors identified in 103 CMR 491.21 exist. (5) An inmate may be limited to not more than ten active grievances that are pending decision at any level at any one time, not including any emergency grievances. (6) Abuse of the grievance process shall be determined by the Superintendent where the inmate is housed. Upon a determination of abuse, limitations on the inmate's ability to file grievances may be imposed as follows: (a) Suspension of the inmate's ability to file grievances for a length of time commensurate with the degree of abuse. (b) The length of suspension may be up to six months and may be increased for second and subsequent offenses in increments not to exceed six months. (c) Inmates under suspension shall normally be allowed to file emergency grievances. (7) Abuse of the emergency grievance procedures may lead to suspension of the ability to file emergency grievances and may also lead to an extension of the original suspension period. (8) Inmates shall receive a grievance suspension notification form if the superintendent deems the suspension appropriate. (9) In the event that an inmate transfers to another institution, the suspension shall remain in effect.