Roy Heck v. James Humphrey et al.

Decided June 24, 1994. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-6188 · 512 U.S. 477 (1994) · Cited 15,294 times

Holding

In order to recover damages for allegedly unconstitutional conviction or imprisonment, or for other harm caused by actions whose unlawfulness would render a conviction or sentence invalid, a § 1983 plaintiff must prove that the conviction or sentence has been reversed on direct appeal, expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized to make such determination, or called into question by a federal court’s issuance of a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Wolff v. McDonnell · 418 U.S. 539 (1974)
• Tower v. Glover · 467 U.S. 914 (1984)
• Crescent City Live Stock Co. v. Batchers' Union Slaughter-House Co. · 120 U.S. 141 (1887)
• Carey v. Piphus · 435 U.S. 247 (1978)
• Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla. · 457 U.S. 496 (1982)
• Wyatt v. Cole · 504 U.S. 158 (1992)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Malley v. Briggs · 475 U.S. 335 (1986)
• Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
• Memphis Community School District v. Stachura · 477 U.S. 299 (1986)
• Rose v. Lundy · 455 U.S. 509 (1982)
• Mitchum v. Foster · 407 U.S. 225 (1972)
• Pulliam v. Allen · 466 U.S. 522 (1984)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Anderson v. Creighton · 483 U.S. 635 (1987)
• Teague v. Lane · 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
• Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co. · 263 U.S. 413 (1924)
• Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States · 424 U.S. 800 (1976)
• Arizona v. Fulminante · 499 U.S. 279 (1991)
• Allen v. McCurry · 449 U.S. 90 (1980)
• Montana v. United States · 440 U.S. 147 (1979)
• Migra v. Warren City School District Board of Education · 465 U.S. 75 (1984)
• Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
• Wright v. West · 505 U.S. 277 (1992)
• Tenney v. Brandhove · 341 U.S. 367 (1951)
• Murray v. United States · 487 U.S. 533 (1988)
• Parke v. Raley · 506 U.S. 20 (1992)
• Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY v. Tomanio · 446 U.S. 478 (1980)
• Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc. · 398 U.S. 375 (1970)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Wilkinson v. Dotson · 544 U.S. 74 (2005)
• Spencer v. Kemna · 523 U.S. 1 (1998)
• Edwards v. Balisok · 520 U.S. 641 (1997)
• Muhammad v. Close · 540 U.S. 749 (2004)
• McDonough v. Smith · 588 U.S. 109 (2019)
• Manuel v. City of Joliet · 580 U.S. 357 (2017)
• District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne · 557 U.S. 52 (2009)
• Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez · 590 U.S. 595 (2020)
• Nance v. Ward · 597 U.S. 159 (2022)
• City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes at Monterey, Ltd. · 526 U.S. 687 (1999)
• Hill v. McDonough · 547 U.S. 573 (2006)
• Trump v. J. G. G. · 604 U.S. 670 (2025)
• Hartman v. Moore · 547 U.S. 250 (2006)
• Nieves v. Bartlett · 587 U.S. 391 (2019)
• Nelson v. Campbell · 541 U.S. 637 (2004)
• Knick v. Township of Scott · 588 U.S. 180 (2019)
• Thompson v. Clark · 596 U.S. 36 (2022)
• County of Los Angeles v. Mendez · 581 U.S. 420 (2017)
• Lozman v. Riviera Beach · 585 U.S. 87 (2018)
• Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion Cty. v. Talevski · 599 U.S. 166 (2023)
• Mayle v. Felix · 545 U.S. 644 (2005)
• Semtek International Inc. v. Lockheed Martin Corp. · 531 U.S. 497 (2001)
• Vega v. Tekoh · 597 U.S. 134 (2022)
• Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon · 602 U.S. 556 (2024)
• Gonzalez v. Trevino · 602 U.S. 653 (2024)
• Gutierrez v. Saenz · 606 U.S. 305 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1994). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).