Section 1983 complaints filed by prisoners

Section 1983 makes liable "Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws." A prisoner's claim has the same elements as anyone else's: a person acting under color of state law, a right secured by the Constitution or federal law, and a deprivation of that right caused by that person. The engine ties each element to a numbered paragraph and a stated fact, exactly as it does for any Section 1983 complaint.

The prisoner rules reach further than people serving a sentence. Under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(h), "the term 'prisoner' means any person incarcerated or detained in any facility who is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms and conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program." 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(c) uses the same definition. A person held before trial is covered, and so is a person detained on a probation violation.

Under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), "No action shall be brought with respect to prison conditions under section 1983 of this title, or any other Federal law, by a prisoner confined in any jail, prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted."

Exhaustion is a defense the other side raises, not something the complaint has to plead. The U.S. Supreme Court held that "failure to exhaust is an affirmative defense under the PLRA, and that inmates are not required to specially plead or demonstrate exhaustion in their complaints" (Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 216 (2007)). The same page adds that "that is not to say that failure to exhaust cannot be a basis for dismissal for failure to state a claim," so a complaint that itself shows available remedies were not exhausted can still be dismissed on its face.

At intake, the engine checks whether the statute applies and records exhaustion as a fact to be shown from the grievance papers in the record, so the record is ready if the defense is raised. It does not plead exhaustion as an element of the claim.

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), the court "shall review, before docketing, if feasible or, in any event, as soon as practicable after docketing, a complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity." Under § 1915A(b), on that review "the court shall identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of the complaint," if it "is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted" or "seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief."

Under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(c)(1), in a suit about prison conditions "The court shall on its own motion or on the motion of a party dismiss" the action "if the court is satisfied that the action is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief." Screening means a judge reads the complaint before any defendant answers it. The engine drafts with that reader in mind: each claim names the defendant, the act, the date and the right, so its elements are visible on the face of the complaint. Immunity questions are researched from controlling decisions, as described under immunity defenses.

Under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e), "No Federal civil action may be brought by a prisoner confined in a jail, prison, or other correctional facility, for mental or emotional injury suffered while in custody without a prior showing of physical injury or the commission of a sexual act (as defined in section 2246 of title 18)."

The statute is about mental or emotional injury. When a matter seeks damages for that kind of injury, the engine flags the rule at intake and ties each claimed injury to the record, so the complaint states what physical injury, if any, the facts show. The scope of the rule in a given court is a research question, answered from controlling authority for that court.

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), "In no event shall a prisoner bring a civil action or appeal a judgment in a civil action or proceeding under this section if the prisoner has, on 3 or more prior occasions, while incarcerated or detained in any facility, brought an action or appeal in a court of the United States that was dismissed on the grounds that it is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, unless the prisoner is under imminent danger of serious physical injury."

A dismissal on one of those grounds, including at screening, can count as a strike. That is one more reason the engine drafts each claim with the court's first read in mind.

• At intake: it reads every page you send, records the grievance papers, flags the exhaustion, physical-injury and three-strikes rules where the facts touch them, and works out the deadlines. Section 1983 borrows the state's limitations period, so the date is computed from controlling authority and, by default, computed a second time. See when a Section 1983 claim is due.
• In the draft: each element is tied to a paragraph and a fact, and every case citation is checked against the full opinion before it can appear. See how case citations are checked.
• Afterward: if the other side moves to dismiss, the engine can prepare the response. See answering a motion to dismiss.

A self-represented filer reviews the complaint, signs it and files it themselves; for a law firm, the attorneys of record sign and remain responsible. We do not go to court for anyone. Read going to court without a lawyer for what you do and what we don't.

This page is general information about federal statutes, not an analysis of any case. State courts and state claims have their own rules. The terms used here are defined in the glossary.

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Related: Section 1983 civil-rights complaints · Motions · Representing yourself