"Section 1983 Litigation" refers to lawsuits brought under Section 1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code. Section 1983 gives an individual the right to sue state government employees and others acting "under color of state law" for civil rights violations. Section 1983 has spawned a tremendous amount of interesting and lucrative litigation, as well as a wide selection of law review articles and CLE seminars.
Treatises on the subject include Nahamod's Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Litigation: The Law of Section 1983 (West Group), Schwartz's Section 1983 Litigation (J. Wiley) and Gelfand's Constitutional Litigation Under Section 1983: A Treatise for City Attorneys, Public Interest Litigators and Students.
Summaries of judicial opinions interpreting Section 1983 are published in the United States Code Annotated, the United States Code Service and West's Federal Practice Digest.