16-c-1 Types of Relief a Court May Grant

• Library: A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual (2020 Edition)

16-C-1. Types of Relief a Court May Grant

Whether your Section 1983 claim is based on a violation of constitutional or federal statutory rights, you may generally ask a federal district court for several types of relief. These types of relief include damages (money payment), injunctive relief (an order from the court to the person you sued to do something or to stop doing something), and declaratory relief (a court statement of what your rights are). You may ask for more than one type of relief in your suit. However, the type of relief you can ask for may be different depending on whom you sue or name as defendants. ¹⁵⁰

(a) Money Damages

The court may require the individual defendants (such as a warden, guard, or employee) to pay you money damages. You generally cannot get a judgment for money damages against states or state agencies, such as state prisons.¹⁵¹ However, you can get a judgment for money damages against municipalities and private corporations. If you are suing for damages, either you or the defendant can demand a trial by jury.

There are three general categories of money damages: compensatory, punitive, and nominal damages. Compensatory damages, also known as actual damages, are awarded to make you "whole." This means that they put you back in the same position you were in before you suffered the wrong. For example, imagine that an item of your property has been unlawfully damaged by a prison official and the property was worth seventy dollars. If you win your suit, you could receive seventy dollars in damages or a lesser amount that is sufficient to repair or restore the property to its original condition. Or, if you were physically injured by the defendant's conduct, a court or jury might award you enough money to cover your medical expenses or to compensate you for a resulting disability. In addition, compensatory damages may include pain and suffering damages. These try to compensate you financially for the physical pain and suffering you experienced because of the wrongful conduct. When you ask for compensatory damages, you must state and prove the nature, extent, and cause of your injuries in detail.

The second type of money damages is punitive damages. These are not awarded very often. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish the defendant for what he did, rather than just to compensate you for what happened. Punitive damages are available when the defendant acted with "evil motive or intent" or "reckless or callous indifference" to your federal rights.¹⁵² A court cannot award punitive damages against governmental agencies, ¹⁵³ like the prison or jail, but it can award them against individual officials or employees.

The third type of money damages is nominal damages. Nominal damages are a form of symbolic relief that is usually no more than one dollar.¹⁵⁴ A prisoner who proves that his rights were violated, but does not prove that any harm resulted from that violation, will generally be able to get a judgment for nominal damages but not compensatory damages.¹⁵⁵ If you are awarded nominal damages, you may be able to get punitive damages as well.¹⁵⁶

No matter which type of damages you ask for, you should read Chapter 14 of the JLM, "The Prison Litigation Reform Act." The PLRA limits the types of damages you can recover in different situations. ¹⁵⁷

(b) Injunctive Relief

Another type of relief the court can award in a Section 1983 action is an injunction. An injunction is an order to prison officials either to take certain actions-for example, to improve the conditions of your confinement-or to not take certain kinds of actions against you in the future-for example, to stop censoring your mail.¹⁵⁸ An injunction is often referred to as "equitable relief."

In order to get an injunction, you must be able to show two things. First, you must show that there is a likelihood of substantial, immediate, and irreparable (irreversible) injury without an injunction. Second, you must show that the "remedies at law," such as money damages, are inadequate.¹⁵⁹ To meet the immediate injury requirement, you must be able to prove that your injury is likely to happen to you again in the foreseeable (likely) future and was not a single, isolated incident.¹⁶⁰ One of the most effective ways to show that you are likely to suffer future harm is to show that the harm is ongoing due to either a written policy or to a pattern or custom of officially sanctioned behavior (behavior approved by officials). ¹⁶¹ You also have to prove that your injury is substantial and irreparable.¹⁶² You can show that your injury is substantial (serious) by pointing out the specific ways you are being harmed. Demonstrating that your injury is irreparable means showing that you are being harmed in a way that cannot be fixed in the future. Many courts say that the ongoing violation of a constitutional right causes substantial and irreparable harm.¹⁶³ Lastly, you have to show that no other available legal remedy will address your injury. In other words, you must show that an injunction is the only way to prevent and correct the source of your injury.¹⁶⁴

If you can show that an injunction is necessary to protect your rights until your trial is over, you may be able to get a temporary injunction before the trial is completed or even before it starts. ¹⁶⁵ This is called a preliminary injunction. In order to get one you must follow the procedures described in Rule 65(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Most courts also require you to show that:

(1) You are likely to succeed on the merits of your claim,

(2) You are likely to suffer...