Filing Your Case | section1983.org

What happens at this stage

You file three things with the federal district court clerk:

Your complaint — the document that tells the court what happened, who did it, and why it violates the Constitution
Civil cover sheet — a standardized form (JS 44) with basic case information
Filing fee ($405) or IFP application — if you can’t afford the fee, you apply to proceed in forma pauperis (as a poor person) under 28 U.S.C. § 1915

Once the clerk accepts your filing, you get a case number and a judge assignment. Your case exists.

The complaint

Your complaint is your foundation. Everything in your case flows from it. If a fact isn’t in the complaint, it doesn’t exist yet. If a claim isn’t stated, you can’t pursue it.

Under the pleading standard set by Ashcroft v. Iqbal and Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, your complaint must contain:

Factual allegations — specific facts about what happened, not conclusions or labels
Each defendant named — with their role described (who they are, what they did)
Each constitutional violation identified — which amendment, how the facts establish the violation
A plausible claim — the facts, accepted as true, must make the claim more than merely possible

“The defendant violated my rights” is a conclusion. “Officer Markham arrested Plaintiff without probable cause after Plaintiff criticized his surveillance” is a factual allegation. The first gets stripped out. The second survives.

Common mistakes

Conclusory allegations — stating legal conclusions instead of facts. The court will ignore them.
Missing defendants — every person who participated in the violation must be named. You can’t sue “the police department” under § 1983 — sue the individual officers and the municipality.
Wrong court — venue matters. Generally, you file where the violation occurred (28 U.S.C. § 1391).
Shotgun pleading — dumping every fact into every claim instead of organizing by count. Courts hate this.

In forma pauperis (IFP)

If you can’t afford the $405 filing fee, you file a motion to proceed IFP with a financial affidavit showing your income, assets, and expenses.

The IFP trap

Here’s what most pro se litigants don’t know: when you file IFP, the court screens your complaint before the defendant even sees it. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2), the court can dismiss your case sua sponte (on its own) if it determines the complaint is:

Frivolous or malicious
Fails to state a claim
Seeks monetary relief against an immune defendant

This means the judge reads your complaint and decides — without any argument from you — whether your case should exist. Paying plaintiffs don’t face this screening. IFP plaintiffs do. Your complaint has to be strong enough to survive a judge reading it cold.

Three-strikes rule

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), if you’ve had three prior IFP cases dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state a claim, you lose IFP eligibility entirely — unless you’re in imminent danger of serious physical injury. This is the “three strikes” provision. It means your first filing matters. Don’t waste it on a complaint that isn’t ready.

Summons

After filing, the clerk issues a summons for each defendant. This is the formal notice that tells the defendant they’ve been sued and must respond. You’ll need the summons for service of process — the next step.

Timeline

Statute of limitations: varies by state (§ 1983 borrows the state’s personal injury statute of limitations). In Texas, it’s 2 years. In many states, it’s 2-3 years. Miss it and your case is dead.
Accrual: the clock usually starts when you knew or should have known about the violation — typically the date of the incident.
Tolling: some circumstances pause the clock (minority, mental incapacity, defendant concealment). Don’t count on this without research.

What to expect

Filing feels like the hardest part until you get to discovery. But the complaint is the most important document in your case. Spend the time getting it right. Read it as if you’re the judge seeing it for the first time with no context. Does it make sense? Are the facts specific? Can you follow the story?

If the answer is no, rewrite it before you file. You’ll likely get one chance to amend if your complaint is deficient — but some judges won’t grant leave to amend at all. File it right the first time.

Cost

Filing fee: $405 (or IFP application — free but triggers screening)
PACER access: $0.10/page (capped at $3.00/document, free if under $30/quarter). Install the RECAP browser extension ↗ — it automatically saves every PACER document you view to the free CourtListener ↗ archive, and lets you access documents others have already saved. You’ll save money and help make court records accessible to everyone.