Can a person in prison file a Section 1983 lawsuit?

Prisoner civil rights suits in short

• Section 1983 covers people acting for a state or local government, which includes jail and prison staff at state and county facilities.
• Before filing about prison conditions, you must use every step of the grievance process that is available to you, and do it properly, on time. Skipping this step can end the case.
• The court reviews a prisoner’s complaint against government officers early, and dismisses claims that are frivolous, fail to state a claim, or ask for money from someone immune.
• For mental or emotional injury, you need a prior showing of physical injury or the commission of a sexual act.
• Medical care and safety claims by people serving a sentence turn on “deliberate indifference,” which means more than a mistake.
• The filing deadline is borrowed from your state’s personal injury law, so it is different in every state.

This page is written for the person in custody and for the family members who are often the ones reading it. For the basics of Section 1983 that apply to everyone, read What is a Section 1983 lawsuit? first. This page covers what is different when the person suing is in custody.

Who can be sued, and who counts as a prisoner?

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” deprives someone of “any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws.” In plain words: people who act with the power of a state or local government. In a state prison or a county jail, that usually means officers, sergeants, wardens, nurses and doctors who work for the facility, and the people who set its policies.

Section 1983 does not reach federal officers. Someone in a federal prison is in a different and narrower situation, which the Section 1983 guide explains.

The special prisoner rules use a broad definition. Under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(h), a “prisoner” is “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.” That covers a person held in a county jail awaiting trial as well as a person serving a prison sentence. The Supreme Court said the same in Kingsley v. Hendrickson, 576 U.S. 389 (2015): the Prison Litigation Reform Act “applies to both pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners.”

Do I have to file a grievance before I sue?

Yes, if the lawsuit is about prison conditions. 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) says:

“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.”

“Administrative remedies” means the facility’s grievance system: the complaint form, the appeal, and every further appeal it offers. “Exhausted” means you took it all the way to the end.

“Proper” exhaustion: deadlines count

In Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81 (2006), a prisoner filed his grievance late, and it was rejected as untimely. He argued that, since no grievance process was left for him, he had exhausted. The Supreme Court disagreed: “We hold that proper exhaustion of administrative remedies is necessary.” The Court explained that “proper exhaustion demands compliance with an agency’s deadlines and other critical procedural rules.”

In practice, that means a late grievance, a grievance on the wrong form, or a missed appeal can end the federal case before a judge ever looks at what happened. The Court noted in Woodford that grievance deadlines are often short, describing a range of 14 to 30 days given by the United States in that case. Your facility’s own handbook sets your deadline. Find it the first day.

When a grievance process is not “available”

The statute only requires remedies that are “available.” In Ross v. Blake, 578 U.S. 632 (2016), the Supreme Court rejected a general “special circumstances” excuse, but it explained that an inmate “must exhaust available remedies, but need not exhaust unavailable ones.” The Court described three kinds of situations where a remedy on the books is not available:

Be careful with this. The Court also said that when a process can reasonably be read more than one way, “the inmate should err on the side of exhaustion.” If you are relying on one of these three situations, write down every fact as it happens: the dates, the names, what was said, and copies of every form and response.

What is screening, and why was my complaint reviewed before the defendants answered?

A prisoner’s complaint against government officers is reviewed by the court early, before docketing if that is feasible. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a) says: “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), 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.” Section 1997e(c)(1) gives the court a similar power to dismiss prison-conditions cases on those grounds.

Screening is why the complaint itself matters so much. It has to state facts, not conclusions: who did what, on what date, and how it violated a specific right. A complaint that says only “they violated my rights” is the kind that does not survive this review.

Do I need a physical injury to sue?

For mental or emotional injury, yes, unless there was a sexual act. 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e) says:

“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 rule is about one kind of injury, mental or emotional injury. Write down every physical injury and every medical visit, and keep copies of medical requests and records you are allowed to have. How courts in your circuit apply this rule to other kinds of relief is something to check in your circuit’s decisions before you file.

What claims come up most for people in custody?

Claims by people serving a sentence usually rest on the Eighth Amendment, which forbids “cruel and unusual punishments.” Claims by people held before trial rest on the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, as in Kingsley. Three Supreme Court decisions set the standards you will see cited most.

Medical care: what deliberate indifference is and is not

Estelle v. Gamble said the indifference can be shown “by prison doctors in their response to the prisoner’s needs or by prison guards in intentionally denying or delaying access to medical care or intentionally interfering with the treatment once prescribed.” But the Court drew a firm line: “Medical malpractice does not become a constitutional violation merely because the victim is a prisoner.” A disagreement with a doctor’s judgment, such as whether an X-ray was needed, was in that case “a classic example of a matter for medical judgment,” and at most malpractice for a state court.

So the complaint has to show more than bad care. It has to show a serious medical need and someone who knew about it and ignored it, delayed it, or blocked it.

Safety: the official has to know

Farmer v. Brennan held that the official “must both be aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm exists, and he must also draw the inference.” You do not need a confession. The Court said knowledge can be shown “in the usual ways, including inference from circumstantial evidence,” and that a factfinder “may conclude that a prison official knew of a substantial risk from the very fact that the risk was obvious.” It also said that not warning officials in advance is “not dispositive,” and that officials who “responded reasonably to the risk” are not liable even if the harm happened.

Farmer also said this about force used on people serving a sentence, citing earlier cases: the claimant must show officials applied force “maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm.” For people held before trial, Kingsley uses the objective test in the table instead. Kingsley decided excessive force only; for medical and safety claims by people held before trial, read what your own federal court of appeals has held.

How long does a person in custody have to file?

Section 1983 has no deadline of its own. In Wallace v. Kato, 549 U.S. 384 (2007), the Supreme Court said the length of the limitations period “is that which the State provides for personal-injury torts.” In Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235 (1989), it held that “where state law provides multiple statutes of limitations for personal injury actions, courts considering § 1983 claims should borrow the general or residual statute for personal injury actions.”

When the clock starts is a separate question, answered by federal law. Wallace says “the accrual date of a § 1983 cause of action is a question of federal law that is not resolved by reference to state law,” and that the claim normally accrues when “the plaintiff can file suit and obtain relief.” Rules for pausing the clock (called tolling) generally come from state law, the Court added.

That means you need two facts before anything else: your state’s general personal injury limitations period, and the date the claim accrued. Then remember the grievance process has to be finished before you file, and it takes time. Plan for both.

How does a person in prison file a Section 1983 lawsuit, step by step?

1. Write it down now. Dates, times, names, badge numbers, what was said, who saw it, and every medical visit. Memories fade and records go missing.
2. File the grievance on time. Get the grievance policy or handbook, find the deadline, and file on the right form. Keep a copy of everything.
3. Appeal every level. Take every appeal the system offers, each on time, until there is a final answer. That is what § 1997e(a) and Woodford require.
4. Find your deadline. Look up your state’s general personal injury limitations period and work out when the claim accrued, as Wallace and Owens describe.
5. Name the right defendants. The individual officers or staff who did it, by name, and anyone who set the policy behind it. The Section 1983 guide explains individual and official capacity.
6. Write the complaint as facts. Who did what, when, and why it meets the standard for your claim (Estelle, Farmer or Kingsley). Say how you exhausted. Describe physical injury where there was one.
7. File it as the court requires. Use your district court’s forms and local rules. Filing the complaint stays your job.

More questions about prisoner civil rights suits

Statutes and cases cited on this page

42 U.S.C. § 1983 · 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), (c), (e), (h) · 28 U.S.C. § 1915A

Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976) · Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235 (1989) · Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994) · Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81 (2006) · Wallace v. Kato, 549 U.S. 384 (2007) · Kingsley v. Hendrickson, 576 U.S. 389 (2015) · Ross v. Blake, 578 U.S. 632 (2016)

Guides and pages related to prisoner civil rights suits

What is a Section 1983 lawsuit? · What is post-conviction relief? · How do I file a motion in court? · How do I petition the U.S. Supreme Court?