John G. Comerford v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts

This is a suit under the civil rights statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3), the basic object of which is to require the Commissioner of Correction of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to give the plaintiff the benefits of Mass. Acts of 1955, Ch. 770, § 66, for a period prior to its effective date. The court below immediately dismissed the complaint sua sponte but permitted the plaintiff to proceed in forma pauperis for the purpose of taking this appeal.

The plaintiff is now serving two overlapping sentences in a Massachusetts penitentiary. While he was serving those sentences, Chapter 770, supra, was…