Foreword: Prosecutorial Immunity
Suing State Officials for Civil Rights Violations
Shortly after the Civil War, in response to growing racial unrest in the South, the U.S. Congress passed a series of statutes designed to enforce the rights enshrined in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibit slavery and guarantee equal protection and voting rights for all U.S. citizens. In the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act), Congress gave individuals a means of seeking restitution in Federal courts for discriminatory conduct by State employees acting in their official capacities. As codified in 42 U.S. Code Section 1983, the law…
