Cite as: 503 U. S. 140 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
cult to see why a stricter rule of exhaustion than Congress itself has required in the state prison context should apply in the federal prison context.
Respondents also argue that requiring exhaustion is appropriate because Bivens relief gives way when necessary to accommodate either the effective functioning of Government or an articulated congressional policy. Brief for Respondents 15. We have recognized that a Bivens remedy does not lie in two situations: (1) where Congress has provided an equally effective alternative remedy and declared it to be a substitute for recovery under the Constitution, and (2) where, in the absence of affirmative action by Congress, special factors counsel hesitation. Carlson v. Green, 446 U. S. 14, 18-19 (1980). As to the first exception, Congress did not create the remedial scheme at issue here and that scheme, in any case, as noted above, cannot be considered to be equally effective with respect to a claim for money damages. As to the second exception, respondents appear to confuse the presence of special factors with any factors counseling hesitation. In Carlson, the Court held that "special factors" do not free prison officials from Bivens liability, because prison officials do not enjoy an independent status in our constitutional scheme, nor are they likely to be unduly inhibited in the performance of their duties by the assertion of a Bivens claim. Carlson v. Green, 446 U. S., at 19.
Interpreting the "special factors" exception in Schweiker v. Chilicky, 487 U. S. 412 (1988), and in Bush v. Lucas, 462
which cannot, in reasonable probability, be resolved by the grievance resolution system . . . ." H. R. Conf. Rep. No. 96-897, p. 15 (1980).
The Attorney General, charged under the statute with certifying the adequacy of state administrative remedial schemes, has provided by regulation: "The [state] grievance procedure shall afford a successful grievant a meaningful remedy." 28 CFR § 40.6 (1991) (emphasis added). At the time of promulgating these regulations, the Department of Justice observed on the public record: "Presumably, where monetary relief was the sole adequate remedy and could not be obtained through a grievance procedure, exhaustion would not be appropriate." 46 Fed. Reg. 3845 (1981).
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