Chapter 15

Damages: Causes of Action and Defenses

Chapter Overview

This chapter looks at the causes of action prisoners use to seek damages for harm they experience at the hands of state, local, or federal officials. It examines immunities, official- vs. personal-capacity lawsuits, supervisory liability, and the liability of private contractors. Materials also include opening and closing statements from a jail suicide damage trial.

Featured Opinions

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
Cohen v. United States, 151 F.3d 1338 (11th Cir. 1998)
Cope v. Cogdill, 3 F.4th 198 (5th Cir. 2021)
Corrections Services Corp. v. Malesko, 534 U.S. 61 (2001)
Edwards v. Balisok, 520 U.S. 641 (1997)
Goldey v. Fields, 606 U.S. 942 (2025) (per curiam)
Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730 (2002)
Millbrook v. United States, 569 U.S. 50 (2013)
Smith v. Wade, 461 U.S. 30 (1983)
Taylor v. Riojas, 592 U.S. 7 (2020) (per curiam)
United States v. Muniz, 374 U.S. 150 (1963)
United States v. Olson, 546 U.S. 43 (2005)
Wade v. United States, 13 F.4th 1217 (11th Cir. 2021)
Ziglar v. Abbasi, 137 S.Ct 1843 (2017)

Featured, Cited, and Supplemental Litigation Documents

Does v. Michigan Dep’t of Corr., No. 13–cv–14356–RHC–RSW (E.D. Mich.)
- Litigation summary and documents
Neal v. Michigan Dep’t of Corr., No. 96–6986–CZ (Mich.)
- Litigation summary and documents
White v. Watson, Case No. 16–cv–560–JPG–DGW (S.D. Ill.)(Damages sought for death by suicide of pre-trial St. Clair County jail detainee)
- Third Amended Complaint (Apr. 5, 2017)
- Opening statements (Dec. 3, 2018)

Sample 1983 and Bivens Complaints

Hill v. BOP, No. 13-cv-3404 (D. Colo) (Bivens action re. medical and mental health care, filed by trans woman seeking damages and injunctive relief)
- Complaint (Dec. 17, 2013)
Jones v. Dart, No. 13-cv-2652 (N.D. Ill) (pro se action alleging unconstitutional conditions in Cook County jail)
- Complaint (Apr. 9, 2013)
Ross v. Gossett, No. 15-cv-309 (S.D. Ill) (damages class action for Illinois state prisoners who alleged beatings, sexual humiliation, and property destruction during “shakedowns”
- Complaint (Oct. 31, 2016)
Taylor v. Crot, No. 13-cv-1930 (N.D. Ill) (pro se jail detainee complaint alleging inadequate medical care and failure to protect)
- Complaint (Mar. 12, 2013)

Statutes, Treaties, and Regulations

42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 42 U.S.C. § 1988
Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671-2680
Prison Litigation Reform Act, Pub. L. No. 104–134 (See in particular: 18 U.S.C. § 3626 note, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, 28 U.S.C. § 1915A)

Lived Experiences

Additional Reading

John Boston, The Prison Litigation Reform Act: Considerations in Individual Litigation, in Practicing Law Institute, Prison Law 2010
Dan B. Dobbs, Paul T. Hayden and Ellen M. Bublick, The Law of Torts (2d ed. 2010)
Paul Figley, Ethical Intersections and the Federal Tort Claims Act: An Approach for Government Attorneys, 8 U. St. Thomas L.J. 347 (2011)
Pamela S. Karlan, Disarming the Private Attorney General, 2003 U. Ill. L. Rev. 183 (2002)
Barry A. Lindahl, Modern Tort Law: Liability and Litigation, Ch. 7 (Employer Liability for Torts of Employees), §§ 7:7 to 7:16 (2d ed. 2019)
Bradford C. Mank, Suing Under § 1983: The Future after Gonzaga University v. Doe, 39 Hous. L. Rev. 1417 (2003)
James E. Pfander, Alex Reinert, & Joanna C. Schwartz, The Myth of Personal Liability: Who Pays When Bivens Claims Succeed, 72 Stan. L. Rev. 561 (2020)
Press Release, Over 100 Survivors of Staff Sexual Violence at FCI Dublin Reach Historic $115M Settlement with Bureau of Prisons (Dec. 18, 2024)
Margo Schlanger, Trends in Prisoner Litigation, as the PLRA Enters Adulthood, 5 U.C. Irvine L. Rev. 153 (2015)
Margo Schlanger, Inmate Litigation, 116 Harv. L. Rev. 1555 (2003)
Joanna C. Schwartz, Police Indemnification, 89 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 885 (2014)