Timothy Sampson v. Cathy Garrett

SUTTON, Circuit Judge.

Timothy Sampson is serving a life sentence in a Michigan prison. He sued Wayne County, Michigan, and a host of state-court officials and private attorneys under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , alleging they conspired to deprive him of trial transcripts, exhibits, and other records to frustrate his constitutional right to access the court.

The district court dismissed Sampson's pro se complaint for failure to state a claim, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915A, 1915(e)(2)(B), concluding first that a number of the defendants are immune from suit or are not state actors, and second that Heck v. Humphrey ,…