01-1573 Alejo v. Heller

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“[The district court] concluded that rather than staying the case until Alejo successfully challenged the validity of the underlying disciplinary proceedings (a decision that could cause the case to remain on the court’s docket in perpetuity should Alejo’s subsequent attempts never prove successful), the case should be dismissed without prejudice to allow Alejo to refile the claim at a later date should the disciplinary proceedings be invalidated. See id. at 721 (applying Heck’s favorable-termination requirement to all decisions by prison disciplinary boards that entail some finding of guilt in adjudicating a disciplinary charge).

“We disagree with that assessment. In DeWalt, this court recognized that ‘a prisoner may bring a sec. 1983 claim ‘challenging the conditions of [his] confinement where [he] is unable to challenge the conditions through a petition for federal habeas corpus.”

“Under DeWalt, Alejo’s claim against Heller, which arose out of the strip-search disciplinary proceedings that resulted in his removal from the B-Unit and pretransfer programs, challenges the conditions of his confinement and cannot be barred by Heck. The district court’s holding to the contrary was therefore erroneous.”

Affirmed in part, and Reversed in part.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Gilbert, J., Kanne, J.