Thomas v. Barker.

• Position: Thomas v. Barker, 371 F.Supp.2d 636, Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 - Brief Article

U.S. District Court

FRIVOLOUS SUITS

PLRA -- Prisoner Litigation Reform Act

Thomas v. Barker, 371 F.Supp.2d 636 (M.D.Pa. 2005). A jail inmate brought a pro se civil rights suit seeking to challenge the propriety of charges of escape and other crimes. The district court dismissed the case, finding that the inmate could not seek release from custody in a [section] 1983 action. The court noted that to the extent that the jail inmate was challenging the fact or duration of his confinement by attacking a sheriff's filing of charges against him, the claims had to be brought in a habeas corpus petition, rather than a civil rights action. The court also held that any claim for monetary damages based on a civil rights claim for allegedly unconstitutional...