Compensatory Damages

What It Is

Compensatory damages in § 1983 are money awards designed to compensate you for the actual harm caused by the constitutional violation. They aim to make you “whole” — to restore you to the position you would have been in had the violation not occurred.

Categories

Economic (Special) Damages

Quantifiable financial losses:

• Medical expenses — Hospital bills, therapy, medication
• Lost wages — Time missed from work due to arrest, injury, or detention
• Property damage — Belongings destroyed during a search or arrest
• Legal expenses — Costs of defending against wrongful criminal charges (separate from § 1988 attorney fees)

Non-Economic (General) Damages

Subjective harms that don’t have a specific dollar amount:

• Pain and suffering — Physical pain from excessive force
• Emotional distress — Anxiety, depression, PTSD, humiliation
• Loss of liberty — The experience of being unlawfully confined
• Reputational harm — Damage to your reputation from a wrongful arrest or prosecution
• Loss of enjoyment of life — How the violation changed your daily existence

Proving Damages

• Document everything — Medical records, therapy records, pay stubs showing lost income, photos of injuries
• Get treatment — If you’re injured, seek medical care. If you’re suffering emotionally, see a therapist. Untreated injuries are harder to prove.
• Keep a journal — Document how the incident affects your daily life. This becomes evidence of emotional distress.
• Expert testimony — Medical experts and economists can quantify damages, but this costs money

The Emotional Distress Challenge

You can recover for emotional distress without physical injury in most circuits — but you need evidence. Your testimony alone may suffice, but it’s stronger with:

• Medical/therapy records
• Testimony from family or friends about changes in your behavior
• Documentation of nightmares, anxiety, avoidance behavior

For prisoners, the PLRA requires a showing of physical injury before recovering for emotional distress, which effectively bars many legitimate claims.

Key Cases

• Memphis Community School District v. Stachura, 477 U.S. 299 (1986) — Compensatory damages based on actual injury, not the abstract “value” of the right violated
• Carey v. Piphus, 435 U.S. 247 (1978) — Must prove actual injury for compensatory damages; procedural due process violation without injury yields only nominal damages