Wisconsin Section 1983 Cases
3 cases in the library
These are the cases in the library that arose in Wisconsin or bind courts there. Federal district courts in Wisconsin sit in the Seventh Circuit, so published Seventh Circuit decisions and Supreme Court decisions control. State-court decisions are included where they decide a probable-cause or offense-element question that a Section 1983 court will look to.
A case is tagged to a state when it arose there or when it is binding precedent for federal courts there. Circuit decisions are tagged to every state in the circuit. The Section 1983 limitations period in Wisconsin is 3 years; see the Wisconsin statute of limitations page.
Cases, newest first
Miranda v. County of Lake
900 F.3d 335 (7th Cir. 2018) · Aug 10, 2018
The court clarified the standard for municipal liability under Monell, holding that a county could be liable under § 1983 for maintaining a widespread practice of excessive force where the practice was so pervasive that it constituted a de facto policy, and that private medical providers contracted by the county could not be shielded from § 1983 liability simply because they were not government employees.
Baird v. Renbarger
576 F.3d 340 (7th Cir. 2009) · Aug 3, 2009
The Seventh Circuit held that an officer who used excessive force during a traffic stop — including slamming a compliant suspect's head into a car — was not entitled to qualified immunity because the right to be free from gratuitous force during a seizure was clearly established.
Lawrence v. Kenosha County
391 F.3d 837 (7th Cir. 2004) · Dec 2, 2004
The Seventh Circuit held that an officer's use of a chokehold and other physical force against a compliant arrestee was objectively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, and that qualified immunity did not protect the officer because the right to be free from gratuitous force was clearly established.
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