Section 1983 Civil Rights Lawsuits

Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act on April 20, 1871, to fight violence against freed Black Americans that Southern officials ignored or joined. One provision, now codified at 42 U.S.C. 1983, says any person who, under color of state law, deprives someone of rights secured by the Constitution and federal laws is liable to the injured party. For nearly a century it was rarely used, until Monroe v. Pape in 1961 held it applies even when officials violate state law.

Today it is the main way to sue police officers, jailers, school officials, and other state and local employees for violating constitutional rights, such as through excessive force, unlawful searches, or free speech violations. Under Monell v. Department of Social Services in 1978, cities and counties can be sued when an official policy or custom causes the violation, though not simply because they employ the wrongdoer. A 1976 law lets winning plaintiffs recover attorney fees.

Officials sued personally can claim qualified immunity, and states themselves cannot be sued under the law. In Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic in 2025, the Supreme Court held 6 to 3 that a Medicaid provision on choosing providers cannot be enforced through Section 1983, part of a trend limiting which federal laws people can enforce this way. The law does not apply to federal officials, who can be sued only in narrow circumstances.