Roscoe W. Fields, Sr., v. Bobby Ray McGee and Lillian Bean

Mr. Fields says that Joe Torrence, the Circuit Court Clerk of Davidson County, charged him an excessive fee for a certified copy of a traffic citation, for which he attempted to seek redress in General Sessions Court of Knox County. He says that the Judge of the Knox County General Sessions Court and the Clerk thereof refused to allow him to file his warrant, whereupon he attempted to file it in Davidson County, and was rebuffed; he thereupon attempted to file a redressing action in the Davidson Chancery Court, and was again rebuffed. He returned to Knox County, and filed this pro se action for damages against Judge McGee and Clerk Bean, asserting that they violated his civil rights under 42 U. S. C. §1983, by refusing to allow him to file the action against Clerk Torrence. The trial judge directed a verdict for the defendants at the close of the plaintiff’s case, holding that he had failed to make out a prima facie case.