Wrongful Death Actions Under Section 1983: A Roundtable Dialogue

34 Pages Posted: 7 May 2014

See all articles by Martin A. Schwartz

Martin A. Schwartz

Touro University - Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center

Steven H. Steinglass

Cleveland State University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

Richard Emery

Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, LLP

Ilann Maazel

Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, LLP

Erwin Chemerinsky

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law

Victor Marrero

Government of the United States of America - U.S. District Court

Abstract

At the time this Article was published, wrongful death actions that were asserted under § 1983 had proven to be very complex matters. Between and among the lower federal courts, there was disagreement on how to resolve these cases. In this Article, an esteemed panel worthy of addressing such a difficult topic discusses and analyzes such cases.

The authors begin by examining how courts handle questions of survivorship of claims, and the importance of keeping the survivorship and wrongful death issues separate. They also address cases in which the argument is raised about a deficiency in the federal law, why such deficiencies are not always obvious, and whether it is still necessary to determine whether the state statutes turned to in instances of federal law deficiencies are consistent with § 1983 policies. Lastly, the authors explore different state rulings in response to recovery of damages for the surviving plaintiff and supplemental state law wrongful death claims.

Keywords: Section 1983 litigation, wrongful death actions, survivorship of claims, Section 1988(a), federal law deficiencies, damages in wrongful death actions, supplemental state law wrongful death claims

Suggested Citation

Schwartz, Martin A. and Steinglass, Steven H. and Emery, Richard and Maazel, Ilann and Chemerinsky, Erwin and Marrero, Victor, Wrongful Death Actions Under Section 1983: A Roundtable Dialogue. 19 Touro L. Rev. 707 (2003), Cleveland-Marshall Legal Studies Paper No. 14-273, Touro Law Center Legal Studies Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2378433

Martin A. Schwartz (Contact Author)

Touro University - Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center ( email )

225 Eastview Drive
Central Islip, NY 11722
United States

Steven H. Steinglass

Cleveland State University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law ( email )

2121 Euclid Avenue, LB 138
Cleveland, OH 44115-2214
United States

Richard Emery

Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, LLP ( email )

75 Rockefeller Plaza
20th Floor
New York, NY 10025
United States

Ilann Maazel

Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, LLP ( email )

75 Rockefeller Plaza
20th Floor
New York, NY 10025
United States

Erwin Chemerinsky

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law ( email )

215 Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

HOME PAGE: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/faculty-profiles/erwin-chemerinsky/

Victor Marrero

Government of the United States of America - U.S. District Court

Washington, DC
United States

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