Paul L. Shipp v. Hardin E. Todd, Clerk of the 13th Judicial District Court in and for Yellowstone County, Montana

Shipp, a former state prisoner filed a civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 28 U.S.C. § 1343 (3) against Todd in Todd’s capacity as clerk of the Montana state court in which Shipp was convicted of burglary in 1965. He sought to have the district court declare the state conviction invalid on federal constitutional grounds and for a mandatory injunction directing Todd to expunge the judgment of conviction from the court records in Todd’s custody.

The district court dismissed the action for failure to state a claim for relief and because the state court clerk is immune from such an action. The court denied Shipp’s motion to amend his complaint to add an allegation that he was deprived of due process as he was not provided or offered legal counsel in the state court proceedings though he was indigent, 20 years old and “relatively uneducated.” He appeals; we reverse.

Although appellant has served the sentences imposed for his burglary convictions, the maintenance of his criminal records continues to operate to his detriment. Wilson v. Webster, 467 F.2d 1282, 1283-84 (9th Cir. 1972); Bilick v. Dudley, 356 F.Supp. 945, 950-52 (S.D.N.Y. 1973). “It is established that the…