A dissenting U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit judge on Friday raised alarms over a “deep and enduring” circuit split related to the U.S. Supreme Court’s “favorable termination” rule regarding the prerequisite for bringing a civil rights lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a conviction.

The rule, established in the 1994 decision Heck v. Humphrey, bars people from bringing suit without first showing the conviction has been reversed, set aside or expunged. Circuits are divided over whether that rule applies to plaintiffs no longer in prison.

‘Hotly Debated in the Lower Courts’