US Code - Title 42 > CHAPTER 21 > SUBCHAPTER I > § 1983

The federal antitrust laws—three statutes enacted over a century ago—are in the spotlight. The year 2020 brought a new reckoning with corporate power and a resurgent interest in using antitrust law as a force for populist change. The “hipster antitrust” movement argues that the focus of antitrust po

The relationship between the themes of federalism and individual rights is one that runs deep in American intellectual and social history. And it is one that has changed drastically with changes in the conditions and temperament of our society. In the early days of the Republic, federalism was viewed as. a means of protecting individual rights from the tyranny of a unified central government. The Civil War brought with it a rejection of this guiding principle. State autonomy came to be seen not as a means to protect the individual from government abuse but rather as the primary source of that abuse. Unpopular or disadvantaged minorities, unable to protect themselves when isolated within the processes of states and localities, turned to the federal government and the federal courts with increasing frequency – and increasing success. The trend culminated in the r96o’s: where individual civil rights were implicated, concern for the interests of states as such was sharply reduced. In recent years, the pendulum seems to have swung in the opposite direction. The national mood has displayed increasing disenchantment with centralized power; the decisions of the Supreme Court have evidenced increasing solicitude for the interests and prerogatives of states. And inevitably, a sense of conflict has emerged between the developing recognition that states do mean something in a federal system and the belief that a primary role of the federal government – through its Constitution, laws, and courts – is to provide protection for civil rights against state abuse. This contemporary conflict between federalism and civil rights is posed perhaps most sharply in lawsuits brought against state and local officials in federal court under 42 U.S.C. § I983. Section 1983, enacted as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 to enforce the guarantees of the fourteenth amendment by providing a cause of action in federal court, lay dormant as a result of restrictive judicial construction until the Supreme Court’s 1961 decision in Monroe v. Pape. In the succeeding decade and a half, litigation under the statute has burgeoned, but as the volume of 1983 litigation has expanded, so too have the calls for its restriction. This Note will examine the enforcement of constitutional rights under section 1983 in light of the enhanced contemporary concern with state autonomy and integrity. In doing so, the goal is not only to suggest the ramifications of the concern with state interests on the 1983

Section 1983 creates a remedy for the violation of a federally protected right, but simply alleging a violation is not enough. Here’s what you need to know about raising a 1983 claim.

About These Forms In General. This and the other pleading forms available from the www.uscourts.gov website illustrate some types of information that are useful to have in complaints and some other pleadings. The forms do not try to cover every type of case. They are limited to types of cases often filed in federal courts by those who represent themselves or who may not have much experience in federal courts. Not Legal Advice. No form provides legal advice.