Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendants-prison officials’ motion to dismiss plaintiff-former prisoner’s section 1983 action, alleging that defendants violated plaintiff’s First Amendment rights by retaliating against him when they revoked his good-time credits in three separate prison disciplinary proceedings. While Dist. Ct. believed that plaintiff’s lawsuit was barred by Heck, 512 U.S. 477, because plaintiff had not exhausted all potential collateral relief regarding said revocations while he was still in custody, Ct. of Appeals found that Heck did not apply, since: (1) plaintiff was not making procedural challenge to prison disciplinary hearings; (2) section 1983 contained no exhaustion element that required plaintiff to seek all potential collateral relief prior to his release from prison; and (3) record showed that plaintiff had attempted to seek habeas relief with respect to instant revocations prior to his release from prison.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Prisoners