Court's Notice-of-Claim Ruling May Encourage Sec. 1983 Cases

During the past decade there has been a sharp increase in the volume of state court litigation under 42 U.S.C. 1983. This trend received some important encouragement on June 22, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided Felder v. Casey and by a 7-2 vote rejected the use of notice-of-claim requirements in state court Sec. 1983 actions. Felder is the Supreme Court's first full examination of the unique procedural and remedial issues that arise when state courts entertain federally created Sec. 1983 actions, and the court provided lawyers and judges with guidance on how to approach such issues.