On March 20, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States issued one decision:
Olivier v. City of Brandon, No. 24-993: In this case, Petitioner Gabriel Olivier, a street preacher in Mississippi, was arrested and convicted of violating a city ordinance that required groups engaging in protests or demonstrations to stay within designated protest areas while other events were scheduled. Following his conviction, Olivier filed suit against the city in federal court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging the city ordinance violated his First Amendment rights. The district court dismissed Olivier’s claim, relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), which prohibits the use of Section 1983 to challenge the validity of a prior conviction or sentence so as to obtain release from custody or monetary damages. The district court reasoned that a person previously convicted of violating a statute could not challenge that statute’s constitutionality under Section 1983 because success in the suit would cast doubt on the prior conviction’s correctness. The Fifth Circuit affirmed on the same reasoning. In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Kagan, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that Olivier’s suit seeking purely prospective relief—an injunction stopping officials from enforcing an ordinance in the future—can proceed, notwithstanding Olivier’s prior conviction for violating that ordinance. The Court noted that Heck was concerned with preventing collateral attacks on prior convictions and that requests for purely prospective relief under Section 1983 do not pose the same risks as such collateral attacks.
View the Court's decision.
On March 16, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in two cases: