Delmar Lee Watson v. Dolph Briscoe

Here, a prisoner plaintiff appeals the district court’s dismissal of his § 1983 complaint on the ground that the claims essentially constituted habeas corpus claims and therefore needed to pass through state remedial machinery before entering federal court. We agree with the district court as to most of the claims, but remand those claims for a determination of whether dismissal or stay of proceedings presents the preferable course of action. As to non habeas type claims, we affirm the dismissal, as these claims have no merit.

Watson, the prisoner plaintiff in this case, brought a 1983 suit…