Federal Civil Rights Litigation by Incarcerated Plaintiffs (Struve)
Faculty
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| Catherine Struve David E. Kaufman & Leopold C. Glass Professor of Law cstruve@law.upenn.edu |
Additional Information
Skills Training
Oral Presentations
Expository Writing
Grading
100% Other (The grade will be based mostly on the research paper, but will also be based on the short paper(s) and presentation(s) and on class participation.)
With Permission of Instructor
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- Class sessions are regularly recorded. If you are absent due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can send you an email with instructions for accessing the recording for the class session(s) you missed.
Meeting Times/Location
M 4:30PM - 6:30PM
Tanenbaum Hall 320
Category
Seminar
Credits
3.0
This course examines the distinctive doctrinal constraints governing federal civil-rights litigation by and on behalf of incarcerated people, and provides each student the opportunity to develop a substantial research paper on an aspect of the field. Much of the course will focus on the effects of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, so we’ll start by studying the PLRA’s enactment and reviewing some basics about the methods of statutory interpretation. We’ll also review the basics of key substantive-law principles relating to Section 1983 claims and Bivens claims. We’ll then discuss a number of the hurdles that face incarcerated plaintiffs. We’ll discuss the administrative-exhaustion requirement; the principles that affect how to sue when one has neither money nor a lawyer; and the PLRA’s physical-injury provision, its three-strikes provision, and its screening requirement. We’ll study how disclosure and discovery work in suits by incarcerated plaintiffs. We’ll consider the PLRA’s (and other) limits on injunctive relief. And we’ll consider attorney fees (in suits where the plaintiff does have a lawyer). During our final two class meetings, each student will present their own research. Each student will write a final research paper on a doctrinal topic relating to the course. In addition, each student will help to lead the discussion in one of the class meetings; for that class, the student will draft a short (two page) paper discussing the readings, and will make a short class presentation.
Courts and the Judicial System Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of both substantive and procedural issues in the operation of our legal system; Perform legal analysis in the context of procedural issues and the judicial process; Communicate effectively on topics related to procedure and the judicial process; Demonstrate an understanding of how procedural issues and the judicial process affect all other area of our legal system.