Where a defendant is sued initially in a state court under §1983, the choice arises of defending in the state court or removing the proceeding to federal court. This choice is given §1983 defendants by 28 U.S.C. §1441(b), which provides in relevant part that “[a]ny civil action of which the district courts have original jurisdiction
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41st Annual Section 1983 Conference: April 10-11, 2025, at Chicago-Kent College of Law
By Snahmod
Chicago-Kent is holding its 41st Annual Section 1983 Conference on Thursday and Friday, April 10-11, 2025, at the Law School. This Conference covers many aspects of section 1983 and constitutional law. I will speak on The Basics of Section 1983 Claims, along with other experts on section 1983 who will speak on immunities, local government…
Supreme Court Sets Out New “Prevailing Party” Rule in Lackey v. Holcomb, Attorney’s Fees Case Involving Preliminary Injunctions and Mootness
By Snahmod
The Supreme Court, on February 25, 2025, reversed the Fourth Circuit in Lackey v. Holcomb, 145 S. Ct. – (2025)(No. 23-621), an attorney’s fees case dealing with preliminary injunctions and mootness, and answered the following Questions Presented in the affirmative: “(1) Whether a party must obtain a ruling that conclusively decides the merits in its…
Supreme Court in Williams v. Reed Reverses Alabama Supreme Court Narrowly on State Court Section 1983 Claims and Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
By Snahmod
It has been blackletter law since Patsy v. Fla. Bd. of Regents, 457 U.S. 496 (1982), and well before, that exhaustion of administrative remedies, like exhaustion of judicial remedies (see Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 473 (1961)), is not required as a condition precedent to filing a § 1983 claim in federal and state court.…
An Important Section 1983 Fourth Amendment Deadly Force Case: Barnes v. Felix in the Supreme Court
By Snahmod
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on January 22, 2025, in a potentially significant section 1983 Fourth Amendment excessive force case from the Fifth Circuit, Barnes v. Felix, 91 F.4th 393 (5th Cir. 2024), cert granted 10-4-24 (No. 23-1239). The Question Presented The Court granted certiorari to deal with the following Question Presented (which I…
An Updated Section 1983 Primer (9): Absolute Judicial Immunity
By Snahmod
I have been updating my popular Section 1983 Primer series, first published sequentially over ten years ago. In a recently updated post I blogged about the Supreme Court‘s approach to absolute immunity generally under section 1983. I specifically referred to the three categories of absolutely immune defendants–legislators, judges and prosecutors–and also discussed the underlying policy…
An Updated Section 1983 Primer (8): Absolute Legislative Immunity
By Snahmod
(It’s been a while since my last post. But I just finished teaching my First Amendment seminar and grading student papers, so I am back). I have been updating my popular Section 1983 Primer series, first published sequentially over ten years ago. In my most recently updated post I blogged about the Supreme Court‘s approach…
Villarreal v. City of Laredo: The Supreme Court Reverses A Grant of Qualified Immunity In A First Amendment Case
By Snahmod
In Villarreal v. City of Laredo, Texas, a 2022 Fifth Circuit case, the plaintiff was prosecuted under a never-before used (and subsequently held-unconstitutional) state statute for publishing information she obtained from a police officer. The Fifth Circuit panel explained as follows in denying qualified immunity to the defendant police officers: “If the First Amendment means…
The Fifth Circuit Still Stands Alone In Refusing To Accept the State-Created Danger Theory
By Snahmod
Still playing it coy on the state-created danger exception to DeShaney v. Winnebago County, 489 U.S. 189 (1989), the Fifth Circuit ruled that the defendant public school officials were protected by qualified immunity when they failed to prevent the sexual assault on a disabled student by another student with “known violent tendencies.” The student alleged…
Recent and Forthcoming Supreme Court Section 1983-Related Cases: Author’s Note
By Snahmod
The 2024-25 Edition of my three-volume Treatise on section 1983 will be available in early September on West and Westlaw. The Treatise, first published in 1979, has been updated annually, I am pleased to say. In any event, I want to share the Author’s Note with you because it provides a current list of the…