Martin A Schwartz

April 28, 2020 | New York Law Journal

The Supreme Court in 'Heck' held that a §1983 constitutional claim that "necessarily" implies the invalidity of the plaintiff's conviction is not "cognizable" unless the conviction was overturned on appeal, collateral review, or executive order. This doctrine has generated numerous difficult issues. Martin A. Schwartz discusses two important recent circuit court decisions applying the doctrine in this edition of his Section 1983 Litigation column.

By Martin A. Schwartz

10 minute read

March 02, 2020 | New York Law Journal

Martin Schwartz discusses Section 1983 complaints that assert claims against multiple police officers. These claims present difficult issues and can be particularly challenging.

By Martin A. Schwartz

13 minute read

January 06, 2020 | New York Law Journal

Section 1983 is designed to compensate and deter constitutional violations by state and local officials. The damages phase of a §1983 action may present a variety of challenging issues. In his Section 1983 Litigation column, Martin A. Schwartz discusses the Tenth Circuit's recent decision in 'Burke v. Regalado', which provides valuable analyses of several of these issues.

By Martin A. Schwartz

13 minute read

November 04, 2019 | New York Law Journal

At the end of its last term, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered an important decision concerning the accrual of a §1983 fabrication of evidence claim. In his Section 1983 Litigation column, Martin A. Schwartz discusses the case, 'McDonough v. Smith', in which the court held that the statute of limitations on Edward McDonough's claim that he was prosecuted based upon fabricated evidence did not accrue until he was acquitted of the criminal charges.

By Martin A. Schwartz

14 minute read

August 30, 2019 | New York Law Journal

In his Section 1983 Litigation column, Martin Schwartz discusses 'Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck,' where a sharply divided Supreme Court held that a private nonprofit corporation designated by the City of New York to operate public access cable television channels was not engaged in state action. As a result, the corporation was not subject to the limitations of the First Amendment Free-Speech Clause.

By Martin A. Schwartz

10 minute read

July 01, 2019 | New York Law Journal

In his Section 1983 Litigation column, Martin Schwartz discusses the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision 'Nieves v. Bartlett,' where the court held that as a strong general rule, probable cause to arrest defeats a §1983 free speech retaliatory arrest claim against an arresting officer—an issue that had been frustrating the courts for many years.

By Martin A. Schwartz

13 minute read

May 06, 2019 | New York Law Journal

In his Section 1983 Litigation column, Martin A. Schwartz discusses a recent Second Circuit decision allowing the assertion of §1983 claims against the City of New York based on a district attorney's office policies and practices.

By Martin A. Schwartz

14 minute read

March 04, 2019 | New York Law Journal

In his Section 1983 Litigation column, Martin Schwartz tackles the “difficult issues” surrounding a malicious prosecution claim, specifically the claim's “favorable termination” element where he cites the Second Circuit's holding in “Lanning v. City of Glens Falls” that the element should be determined on a uniform federal standard.

By Martin A. Schwartz

11 minute read

January 02, 2019 | New York Law Journal

In his Section 1983 Litigation column, Martin A. Schwartz addresses the question of when may a supervisory official be held liable under 42 U.S.C. §1983 for the unconstitutional conduct of a subordinate? This issue has given the courts and §1983 litigators fits for many years. Prof. Alexander A. Reinert recently made an excellent presentation on the issue of supervisory liability. Reinert offered several important observations concerning the liability of supervisory officials, which Schwartz highlights in this column.

By Martin A. Schwartz

11 minute read

October 30, 2018 | New York Law Journal

In his Section 1983 Litigation column, Martin A. Schwartz continues his analysis of cases involving the use of Tasers. He writes: The critical Fourth Amendment issue is whether, under the totality of the circumstances facing the officer, the officer's use of her Taser was reasonable. In this column we identify the relevant circumstances in the totality of the circumstances, analyze their significance, describe discernible patterns in the decisional law, and discuss significant recent §1983 Taser decisions.

By Martin A. Schwartz

14 minute read