Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky Metropolitan Government, et al. v. Johnetta Carr

In 1994, this Court held that an individual convicted of a crime may not bring a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim unless “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.” Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 486-87 (1994). The question presented is: May a convicted offender, subsequently pardoned, bring a § 1983 action where the pardon fails to expunge the underlying criminal conviction or call its validity into question?