Maury Povich Sued -- Oh, the Horror of Seeing My Daughter on TV ... Says Prison Inmate

Maury Povich traumatized a father who watched his daughter on Maury's show ... so now he's suing -- and, oh ... the father is a convicted felon who was watching TV from prison.

The inmate is Alan B. Griffin ... and he's filed a handwritten lawsuit against MP for the episode he watched back in 2010 while in a Florida prison. Griffin complains his 7-year-old daughter Lanique and ex-wife Sherilitra Nash were guests on 'Maury' ... and he was the topic.

Griffin says seeing his "only child being exploited" by Povich led to suicidal thoughts which landed him in a 72-hour mental health hold ... and a year of psychiatric counseling.

Griffin -- who's in for sexual battery and 2nd degree attempted murder -- claims he never signed off on having his daughter appear on Maury's show ... so he wants $100K each from Povich, his production company, and NBC.

He's got next to no shot at winning this thing, but we'll give Griffin credit for incredible penmanship. Seriously, you should read the docs.