Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Stephanie Ann Ripple, as Administratrix of the Estate of John Robert McCool v. Laurel R. Harry, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al.

IFP petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 26-1411


Pending

Questions presented

  1. Whether the favorable-termination requirement of Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), bars a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim brought by the estate of a prisoner who died in custody, rendering federal habeas corpus relief impossible through no fault of the decedent or the estate.

  2. Whether applying Heck after a prisoner’s death extinguishes the only remaining damages remedy and thereby nullifies a state survival statute that 42 U.S.C. § 1988 requires federal courts to apply.

  3. Whether a surviving child has standing under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to assert a substantive dueprocess claim for loss of familial association arising from deliberate indifference that caused a parent’s death in custody.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Stephanie Ann Ripple

For respondent

Case

Conference history

Proceedings

  1. Aug 03 2026
    Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due September 30, 2026)