Schedule for 40th Annual Section 1983 Conference: April 18-19, 2024
Here is the schedule for the upcoming in-person Section 1983 Conference. We hope to see you there.
Any questions? Contact either CLE@kentlaw.iit.edu or snahmod@kentlaw.iit.edu.
Day One – April 18, 2024
| 8:45 – 9:00 AM | Welcome and Introduction |
| 9:00 – 10:15 AM | The Section 1983 Claim: Basics |
| Section 1983 and Fourteenth Amendment violations State action and color of law First Amendment retaliatory arrest claims The Second Amendment The Fifth Amendment and Miranda claims The Eighth Amendment Cause in fact and proximate cause “Laws” actions Heck v. Humphrey and existing convictions Due Process Section 1983 malicious prosecution claims A quick look at accrual | |
| Sheldon H. Nahmod, University Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, Chicago-Kent College of Law (Program Chair) | |
| 10:15 – 10:30 AM | BREAK |
| 10:30 – 11:45 AM | Municipal Liability |
| Methods of Establishing Monell Liability What’s an Official Policy and Whose Policy is it? Municipal Liability Claims Post-Connick Municipal Liability Absent Individual Liability Impact of Qualified Immunity on Municipal Liability | |
| Karen M. Blum, Professor Emerita and Research Professor of Law,Suffolk University Law School | |
| 11:45 – 1:00 PM | LUNCH (on your own) |
| 1:00 – 2:00 PM | The Fourth Amendment |
| Raff Donelson, Associate Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law | |
| 2:00 – 3:15 PM | Substantive Due Process |
| Selective Incorporation of the Bill of Rights Protection of Non-Textual Rights from Laws That Interfere with Procreation and Parental Rights Section 1983 Substantive Due Process Claims Brought by Pretrial Detainees, Students, Landowners, and Government Employees | |
| Rosalie B. Levinson, Professor of Law Emerita, Valparaiso University School of Law | |
| 3:15 – 3:30 PM | BREAK |
| 3:30 – 4:45 PM | Attorney’s Fees and Related Ethical Issues |
| Issues in recently decided Supreme Court attorney’s fees cases (changes in law regarding nominal damages and impact on availability of fees; standards controlling awards to prevailing defendants; fees for modest injunctive relief without money damages; how reasonable fee is determined (lodestar) Ethics issues in §1983 cases (including Rule 68 issues, conflicts of interest, frivolous claims) Ethics Learning Objectives: 1) Duty of lawyer to represent unpopular clients and causes, even for little or no fee 2) Duty of lawyer to put client’s interest in seeking largest recovery above risk to attorney of reduction of court-awarded fees if merits result obtained is substantially less than outcome sought 3) The importance of a detailed written fee agreement in order to minimize ethics dilemmas in representing clients in civil rights cases | |
| Gerald M. Birnberg, Founding Partner, Williams, Birnberg & Andersen LLP | |
| 4:45 – 5:45 PM | RECEPTION |
Day Two – April 19, 2024
| 9:00 – 10:15 AM | Section 1983 Remedies: Damages and Prospective Relief |
| Section 1983 litigation has given rise to a number of interesting questions associated with remedies. In this session, we will discuss compensatory and punitive damages, as well as issues related to injunctive relief. | |
| Noah Smith-Drelich, Assistant Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law | |
| 10:15 – 10:30 AM | BREAK |
| 10:30 – 11:45 AM | Individual Immunities |
| A review of the current law and cutting-edge issues with regard to absolute and qualified immunity, including who possesses absolute immunity and for what tasks, what is the standard for qualified immunity, and what are the issues most frequently litigated with regard to immunities. | |
| Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law | |
| 11:45 – 1:00 PM | LUNCH (on your own) |
| 1:00 – 2:15 PM | The Religion Clauses and Section 1983 |
| History and purposes of the Religion Clauses The Establishment Clause:prayer, religious displays and financial support for private religious education The move to a “history and tradition” test in Establishment Clause cases: Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. The Free Exercise Clause: the all-important Smith (peyote) decision, the return to strict scrutiny, the Covid-19 cases and beyond, including Carson v. Makin Congressional response to Smith: RLUIPA | |
| Sheldon H. Nahmod, University Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, Chicago-Kent College of Law (Program Chair) | |
| 2:15 – 3:30 PM | The Supreme Court’s Current and Forthcoming Terms |
| A review of the major decisions from October 2022 (including on affirmative action, religious accommodations in employment, and freedom of speech), and October Term 2023 (including on retaliation claims under the Fourth Amendment, freedom of speech, and gun regulation). | |
| Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law |
Nahmod Law 