Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_20-cv-00051/USCOURTS-caed-2_20-cv-00051-11/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

---

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JOSHUA DAVIS BLAND,

Plaintiff,

v.

JON A. MESSINGER, et al.,

Defendants.

No. 2:20-cv-0051 KJM DB P

ORDER

Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 

U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff claims defendants subjected him to verbal harassment and used 

excessive force against him.

The dispositive motion filing deadline expired on October 22, 2021. (ECF No. 28.) 

Neither party filed a motion for summary judgment. The undersigned issued a show cause order 

directing the parties to show cause why this action should not be set for trial. (ECF No. 39.) 

Defendants filed a response requesting additional time to file a motion for judgment on the 

pleadings because plaintiff’s claim may be barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 486-87 

(1994).1 (ECF No. 39.) Plaintiff filed an objection to the response indicating he was opposed to 

1

In Heck, the Supreme Court held that a plaintiff cannot maintain a § 1983 action to recover 

damages for “harm caused by actions whose unlawfulness would render [his] conviction or 

sentence invalid” when his sentence and conviction have not previously been reversed, expunged, 

declared invalid, or called into question upon issuance of a writ of habeas corpus by a federal 

court.

Case 2:20-cv-00051-DAD-SCR Document 44 Filed 07/12/22 Page 1 of 2
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

2

allowing defendants another opportunity to request dismissal. (ECF No. 41.) Defendants’

request for additional time was denied because it failed to show good cause sufficient to warrant 

modification of the dispositive motion deadline. (ECF No. 42.) However, in light of the issue 

raised in defendants’ response to the show cause order, the undersigned will direct the parties to 

file briefing on whether Heck is a jurisdictional bar to adjudication of plaintiff’s underlying 

claims.

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that within sixty days of the date of this order 

the parties shall file and serve briefs indicating whether Heck serves as a jurisdictional bar to

plaintiff’s claims in this action.

Dated: July 12, 2022

DB:12

DB/DB Prisoner Inbox/Civil Rights/R/blan0051.supp.brief.

Case 2:20-cv-00051-DAD-SCR Document 44 Filed 07/12/22 Page 2 of 2