Who You Cannot Sue Under § 1983
Judges, prosecutors, witnesses, legislators, and other officials may have absolute immunity under Section 1983. Learn who is off-limits before you file.
A project of the Institute for Police Conduct, Inc.
Your free guide to holding
police accountable in federal court.
When police violate your constitutional rights, federal law gives you the right to sue. This site explains how to sue the police under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for excessive force, false arrest, retaliation, and what happened in jail, how qualified immunity works against you, and what a federal civil rights lawsuit looks like from the first records request to trial. Plain language, real cases, for people representing themselves.
We are completely independent of police and government. No sponsors. No agenda. Just the law, explained honestly.
Find What You Need
How to sue the police
The whole case in one guide: what Section 1983 covers, who you can sue, qualified immunity, deadlines, and every stage from complaint to trial.
How long you have to file
The Section 1983 statute of limitations for every state, with the statute, and when the clock actually starts.
What to file, and by when
One table mapping each docket event to the document you file and its federal deadline.
Sample documents
A complaint, a declaration, a response to a motion to dismiss, and more, in PDF, Word, and plain text.
Suing the city
The complete Monell guide: the six paths to municipal liability and how to plead each one.
Cases by state, court, and topic
Excessive force, false arrest, qualified immunity denied, Monell, and more, from the Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit.
What Is On The Site Right Now
These numbers show what is live on the public site right now: articles to train you, case summaries to show how courts rule, terms and concepts entries to translate legal language, and process guides to walk you through a federal case step by step. The total page count below also includes the home page and the main section pages.
259
Case Summaries
138
Terms and Concepts
14
Process Guides
61
Articles
593 published pages · 27 courts cited · about 30 hours of reading · free to use
Articles
Read the articles in order from oldest to newest.
Section 1983 Is Getting Harder to Win
The Civil Rights Act of 1871 created a broad remedy. Later courts added court-created barriers that are not written into the statute but now make many Section 1983 cases harder to bring, survive, and win.
getting-started history qualified-immunity pleading
How Courts Cut Back Section 1983 with Court-Made Rules
Section 1983 says people who violate constitutional rights shall be liable. Courts later added major barriers not written in the statute. This article explains what that means and why it matters.
history court-made-rules qualified-immunity absolute-immunity
Heck: When a Section 1983 Claim Is Barred
Learn when Heck v. Humphrey blocks a Section 1983 damages claim, how pleas and diversion programs affect the analysis, and what facts you need to evaluate the issue.
heck getting-started criminal-case damages
Why No Lawyer Will Take Your § 1983 Case
Civil rights lawyers reject most Section 1983 cases for economic reasons, qualified immunity risk, and low expected damages. Here is what that means for your options.
getting-started reality-check attorney-fees economics
Want more articles? Browse all Section 1983 articles .
Have corrections or want to suggest a change?