Opinion
Civil Action No. 1:11-cv-01678
09-15-2011
ALFONSO LOVE-EL, Plaintiff, v. ISAAC FULWOOD, et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis and pro se complaint. The application will be granted, and the complaint will be dismissed.
Plaintiff brings this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, see Compl. at 1, seeking compensatory damages of $500,000 for his unlawful detention, id. at 2. Because plaintiff's claim goes to the fact of his incarceration, he cannot recover damages in a civil rights action without showing that his confinement has been invalidated by "revers[al] on direct appeal, expunge[ment] by executive order, declaration of invalidity] by a state tribunal authorized to make such determination, or ... a federal court's issuance of a writ of habeas corpus." Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 486-87 (1994); accord White v. Bowie, 194 F.3d 175 (D.C. Cir. 1999) (table). Plaintiff has not satisfied this prerequisite.
Plaintiff recently filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, see Love-El v. Johnson, Civ. No. 11-1186 (D.D.C. filed June 28, 2011), but the Court has not yet issued a ruling.
This action will be dismissed without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) and 1915A(b)(l) because the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can granted. An Order is issued separately.
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United States District Judge