Civil Rights Complaint

CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT (42 U.S.C §1983, §1985). This information packet from the United States District Court for the District of Utah is designed to help you file a civil rights complaint in federal court without the help of a trained and licensed attorney. In a civil rights complaint, you are alleging that your constitutional rights or privileges or immunities have been violated. The federal law under which a civil rights claim arises is 42 U.S.C. sections 1983 and 1985. (U.S.C. stands for "United States Code," which is a collection of all the federal laws in the country. The law under which a civil rights action is brought is located in sections 1983 and 1985 of title 42 of the United States Code.) When you represent yourself in a lawsuit you are known as a pro se litigant, or a person who is proceeding pro se. In order to start a lawsuit based on a claim of violation of your civil rights, you must prepare and file with the court what is known as a complaint. This packet of instructions is designed to help you prepare a civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 and 1985. For information on how to actually file the complaint with the court after you have prepared it and how to proceed in your lawsuit, you should obtain and read the Pro Se Litigant Guide. A sample complaint form is included in this packet to help you to prepare your complaint. Your complaint must be typewritten or legibly handwritten. All questions must be answered clearly in the correct space on the form. If you need extra space to answer a question, you may use additional pages of 8.5" x 11" size paper. The additional page(s) must be legible, and must indicate which question you are answering. If you are suing more than one person, you should state clearly which defendant you accuse of each act. www.FormsWorkflow.com