42 U.S.C. § 1983

42 U.S.C. § 1983 is one of the most important federal statutes in force in the United States. It was originally enacted within a few years after the American Civil War, on April 20, 1871 as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1871. At the time, it was also known as the "Ku Klux Klan Act" because one of main reasons behind its passage was to protect southern blacks from that organization by providing a civil remedy for abuses then being committed in the south. The statute has only been subjected to minor changes since then, this statute permits U.S. citizens to sue state actors for violations of their civil rights.

The statute reads:

Every person who under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, Suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer's judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.

Although the United States Supreme Court initially interpreted the Act in such a way as to render it largely ineffective, it was reconsidered in cases heard in the 1950s and 1960s, and now stands as one of the most powerful authorities with which federal courts may protect those whose rights are deprived.