Nobody is above the law. Law enforcement and other government work is a high calling of service. People deserve to trust the police and the government. Almost always, law enforcement officers and government employees earn and deserve that trust. Sadly, citizens sometimes suffer abuses with excessive force or betrayal of confidence by law enforcement and other government officials. In today's world, people want to know: what happens when public officials don't act right, and you are hurt?
Congress passed a law to take our constitutionally protected freedoms and give a single citizen the ability to hold a government employee responsible for violating those freedoms. This law is found in the United States law books at 42 U.S. Code § 1983. You may have heard it called a "1983 civil rights" lawsuit. It gives an individual the right to bring a private lawsuit against a government employee to fix civil rights violations when that government employee violates those rights. There are two important things to remember about 1983 civil rights lawsuits:
Section 1983 protects an individual against a violation of civil rights. Basically, it protects rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution, what you learned about with the Bill of Rights, like:
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