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
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An Updated Section 1983 Primer (9): Absolute Judicial Immunity
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…
An Updated Section 1983 Primer (8): Absolute Legislative Immunity
(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…
Villarreal v. City of Laredo: The Supreme Court Reverses A Grant of Qualified Immunity In A First Amendment Case
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…
The Fifth Circuit Still Stands Alone In Refusing To Accept the State-Created Danger Theory
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…
Recent and Forthcoming Supreme Court Section 1983-Related Cases: Author’s Note
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…
Cert Granted in Williams v. Washington: State Court Section 1983 Claims and Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
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…
Supreme Court Rules Homelessness Not Protected By Eighth Amendment: City of Grants Pass v. Johnson
Suppose §1983 Eighth Amendment actions are brought by non-prisoners such as the homeless who allege that they are punished either because of their status–see Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660, 82 S. Ct. 1417, 8 L. Ed. 2d 758 (1962),…
Supreme Court Adopts Charge-Specific Rule for Section 1983 Fourth Amendment Malicious Prosecution Claims: Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon
Where a § 1983 plaintiff asserts a Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution claim for damages against law enforcement officers, such a claim may be viable where the plaintiff alleges a seizure, the absence of probable cause, malice (presumed by the absence…
The Supreme Court Rejects a Too-Narrow Nieves First Amendment Retaliation Claims Exception: Gonzalez v. Trevino
On June 20, 2024, the Supreme Court handed down Gonzalez v. Trevino, 144 S. Ct. — (2024), reversing 42 F.4th 487 (5th Cir. 2022), a § 1983 First Amendment retaliatory arrest case involving the meaning of the “objective evidence” exception…