Prosecutorial failures to comply with their Brady obligations to disclose exculpatory material to the defense is the leading cause of wrongful convictions. Thomas L. Dybdahl, When Innocence is Not Enough, Hidden Evidence and the Failed Promise of The Brady Rule, p.1 (The New Press 2023). “Of 2,400 documented exonerations between 1989 and 2019, Brady violations helped to convict 44 percent,1056 innocent people.” Id.

A §1983 action for damages may be based on suppression of evidence in violation of Brady due process rights, However, because a §1983 Brady claim necessarily implicates the validity of a conviction, the claim is not cognizable until the conviction has been overturned. Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994). My major purpose here is to analyze how Brady law applies in §1983 actions.