Civil Rights Clinic Wins Expanded Rights for Inmate Clients

Prison disciplinary actions and old convictions used to lengthen sentences under California’s three-strikes law cannot be used against an inmate in a civil rights case, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. UC Davis law students brought the case on behalf of a California state prisoner. Anjuli Fiedler '08 and Rachel Golick '08 presented the oral argument in April. A number of former Civil Rights Clinic students have worked on the case over the past five years.  

The case represents the first time the appeals court has considered the disciplinary action and sentencing issue in a civil rights case, making it a case of "first impression" twice over.

The prisoner, Gary Simpson, was involved in a 2002 altercation with a correctional sergeant at the California Medical Facility prison in Vacaville. Simpson alleged the officer attacked him, while prison officials charged Simpson with assaulting the officer. The prison disciplined Simpson by revoking several months of his "good time" credit against his sentence. Simpson was serving an 18-year sentence for robbery.

Simpson, meanwhile, sued the officer in federal court for violation of his right to be free from excessive force.

In that trial, the judge excluded evidence about how the altercation began, citing a U.S. Supreme Court case, Heck v. Humphrey, which prevents inmates from suing prison officials for damages unless their prior disciplinary infractions have been overturned. As a result, the jury was not allowed to hear Simpson's allegation that the officer struck him first. 

The trial judge also allowed the jury to hear evidence of three of the inmate's earlier convictions, even though Simpson completed his jail time for those offenses more than 10 years ago. The earlier convictions were used to lengthen his sentence under three-strikes.

Both decisions were mistakes and warrant a new trial, the Ninth Circuit Court held. The appeals court ruled that Heck v. Humphrey cannot be used to exclude evidence in civil rights cases, and that prior convictions used in three-strikes sentencing are not exempt from Federal Rule of Evidence 609, under which convictions greater than 10 years old generally cannot be used to impeach a witness' credibility.  

The Civil Rights Clinic at UC Davis School of Law has represented indigent plaintiffs in civil rights cases in state and federal court for 15 years. In the clinic, second- and third-year law students work under the supervision of experienced attorneys and perform all aspects of work on cases, including presenting written motions, conducting depositions, examining witnesses in trial, and presenting oral argument on appeal. 

UC Davis law students have been representing Simpson for the past five years. The case will likely be scheduled for a retrial later this year.

For more information, contact Carter C. White, Supervising Attorney, UC Davis Civil Rights Clinic, (530) 752-5440, [email protected] or Claudia Morain, Senior Public Information Representative, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9841.

The Ninth Circuit's decision in No. 07-16228, Simpson v. Thomas