Below is the schedule for the upcoming Section 1983 Conference to be held at Chicago-Kent College of Law on April 23-24, 2026. For registration information, please email cle@illinoistech.edu or call 312-906-5090. We hope to see you there. PROGRAM SCHEDULE Day One – April 23, 2026 8:45 – 9:00 AM
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42nd Annual Section 1983 Conference: April 23-24, 2026 at Chicago-Kent
By Snahmod
42nd Annual Section 1983 Civil Rights Litigation Conference Section 1983 litigation continues to present challenges for federal and state courts across the country, and the Supreme Court has an especially large impact in this dynamic area of law. Join us for the 42nd annual two-day in-person conference to get up-to-date on the latest cases, trends, and strategies affecting…
The Sixth Circuit Provides a Primer on § 1983 Civil Conspiracies
By Snahmod
The Sixth Circuit’s Rieves Decision In Rieves v. Town of Smyrna, 67 F.4th 856, 863 (6th Cir. 2023), a § 1983 civil conspiracy claim was brought against city and county law enforcement agencies and their officials arising out of raids directed at the plaintiff CBD shop owner (and numerous other CBD shop owners as well) because…
When Do State and Local Law Enforcement Officers Act Under Color of Federal Law? Federal-State Cooperation and the Bivens Dilemma
By Snahmod
By its very language, § 1983 actions can be brought against state and local law enforcement officers only when they act under color of state law, not federal law. In practical terms, this means that their allegedly unconstitutional conduct must constitute state action within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. See, on state action, Chapter…
Excessive Force Claims, Motions to Dismiss and Video Recordings
By Snahmod
Procedural issues are generally beyond the scope of this blog. Still, it may be worth briefly mentioning that the Fourth Circuit, in reversing the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint in a Fourth Amendment excessive force case, ruled that a federal district court may consider a video recording at the motion to dismiss stage and…
Bush v. Gore 25 Years Later: I Still Can’t Get Over It
By Snahmod
IIt has been twenty-five years since the Supreme Court handed down Bush v. Gore. What follows are comments that I wrote on the fifteenth anniversary of that decision. My views of this decision have, if anything, become even more negative since that time, in light of the Supreme Court’s controversial use of its “shadow docket”…
Separation of Church and State: History, Law and Democracy (Video)
By Snahmod
On November 5, 2025, I spoke about the Religion Clauses on a webinar set up by an Illinois branch of the League of Women Voters (LWV). This was the opening segment of a LWV webinar on separation of church and state. It also included three other speakers (two of them clergymen) who addressed relevant questions…
The Free Exercise Clause, Section 1983 and RLUIPA Damages Actions: Certiorari Granted in Landor v. Louisiana Dept. of Corrections and Public Safety
By Snahmod
Section 1983 and Free Exercise Claims for Damages Violations of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, like violations of many of the provisions of the Bill of Rights, are actionable for damages under section 1983 against individual state and local government officials in their individual capacities. When such Free Exercise violations involve clear…
The Supreme Court’s 2024 Term Section 1983 Decisions
By Snahmod
The forthcoming 2025-2026 Edition of my Treatise, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Litigation: The Law of Section 1983 (West/Westlaw), includes not only recent and important circuit court and state court decisions, but all § 1983-related decisions of the Supreme Court that were handed down up to, and including, its 2024 Term. I have blogged…
Exhaustion Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act and the Right to a Jury: Perttu v. Richards
By Snahmod
Section 803 of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1997e, imposes an exhaustion of prison administrative remedies requirement on prisoners who wish to sue under § 1983. (See § 9:65 in Nahmod, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Litigation: The Law of Section 1983 (2024-25 ed.)(West/Westlaw)). At the same time, there is a Seventh…