Prison and Jail Civil Rights & Conditions Cases - Longitudinal Statistics
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Margo Schlanger* Prison and Jail Civil Rights/Conditions Cases: Longitudinal Statistics Appendix to: Slamming the Courthouse Door: 25 Years of Evidence for Repealing the Prison Litigation Reform Act, Prison Policy Initiative (April 26, 2021), at https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/PLRA_25.html * Wade H. and Dores M. McCree Collegiate Professor of Law University of Michigan Law School mschlan@umich.edu The Tables show longitudinal statistics about case filings, features, and outcomes, for jail/prison civil rights and conditions cases and for the entire federal civil docket, grouped by case category. List of tables: Table A: Incarcerated Population and Prison/Jail Civil Rights Filings, FY1970–FY2020 Table B: Pro Se Litigation in U.S. District Courts by Case Type, Cases Terminated Fiscal Years 1996–2020 Table C: Outcomes in Prisoner Civil Rights Cases in Federal District Court, Fiscal Years 1988– 2020 Table D: Outcomes in Federal District Court Cases by Case Type, Fiscal Year 2020 Table E: Prisoner Civil Rights Litigated Victories, FY 2012 Table F: Incidence of Court Orders, Local Jails and State Prisons, 1983–2006 Table G: Change in Prisoner Civil Rights Filings in U.S. District Court and Filing Rates, by State, Fiscal Years 1995 vs. 2012, 2012 vs. 2018, and 1995 vs. 2018 Table H: Days to Disposition, District Court Cases by Fiscal Year of Filing, 1988–2020 These tables and data notes accompany the on-line article cited above (though Tables G and H are not referenced there). All but Table F update Margo Schlanger, "Trends in Prisoner Litigation, as the PLRA Enters Adulthood," 5 U.C. Irvine L. Rev. 153 (2015). Replication code and resulting datasets are posted at http://incarcerationlaw.com/documents/ Data-Update-Data-and-Replication-Code/DataUpdate. 1 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 Table A: Incarcerated Population and Prison/Jail Civil Rights Filings, FY1970–FY2020 Fiscal Year 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Total Incar. Pop. 359,419 353,740 352,326 360,999 387,063 411,712 436,451 448,568 456,877 477,154 506,082 560,431 617,235 652,725 691,538 746,870 818,383 867,040 948,971 1,070,824 1,154,265 1,220,168 1,300,736 1,382,523 1,478,242 1,597,044 1,654,574 1,740,897 1,816,310 1,894,857 1,946,822 Incarcerated Population State Prison Federal Prison Pop. Pop. 178,654 20,038 177,113 20,948 174,379 21,713 181,396 22,815 207,360 22,361 229,685 24,131 248,883 29,117 258,643 30,920 269,765 26,285 281,233 23,356 295,819 23,779 333,251 26,778 375,603 27,311 394,953 28,945 417,389 30,875 451,812 35,781 496,834 39,781 520,336 42,478 562,605 44,205 629,995 53,387 684,544 58,838 728,605 63,930 778,495 72,071 828,566 80,815 904,647 85,500 989,004 89,538 1,032,676 95,088 1,074,809 101,755 1,111,927 110,793 1,155,878 125,682 1,177,240 140,064 Prisoner Civil Rights Filings in Fed. District Court Total Non-federal Filings / 1,000 Federal Def’ts Filings Def’ts Incar. Pop. 2,244 2,091 153 6.2 3,179 2,969 210 9.0 3,635 3,393 242 10.3 4,665 4,257 408 12.9 5,574 5,186 388 14.4 6,527 6,020 507 15.9 7,095 6,701 394 16.3 8,348 7,843 505 18.6 10,087 9,520 567 22.1 11,713 11,149 564 24.5 13,079 12,496 583 25.8 16,333 15,544 789 29.1 16,809 16,075 734 27.2 17,517 16,793 724 26.8 18,340 17,471 869 26.5 18,489 17,662 827 24.8 20,366 19,657 709 24.9 22,073 21,415 658 25.5 22,657 21,879 778 23.9 23,736 22,803 933 22.2 24,051 23,028 1,023 20.8 24,355 23,570 785 20.0 28,544 27,723 821 21.9 31,692 30,841 851 22.9 36,596 35,551 1,045 24.8 39,053 38,022 1,031 24.5 38,262 37,126 1,136 23.1 26,095 25,226 869 15.0 24,221 23,313 908 13.3 23,512 22,645 867 12.4 23,357 22,399 958 12.0 Local Jail Pop. 160,727 155,679 156,234 156,788 157,342 157,896 158,451 159,005 160,827 172,565 186,484 200,402 214,321 228,827 243,274 259,277 281,768 304,226 342,161 387,442 410,883 427,633 450,170 473,142 488,095 518,502 526,810 564,333 593,590 613,297 629,518 2 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 Fiscal Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Total Incar. Pop. 1,971,139 2,032,723 2,088,155 2,141,694 2,184,175 2,250,203 2,283,402 2,301,154 2,297,547 2,280,045 2,254,980 2,232,015 2,244,289 2,232,842 2,172,112 2,150,260 2,133,606 2,107,681 N/A N/A Incarcerated Population State Prison Federal Prison Pop. Pop. 1,179,954 149,852 1,209,145 158,216 1,225,971 168,144 1,244,216 177,600 1,261,071 186,364 1,297,536 190,844 1,316,105 197,285 1,324,539 198,414 1,319,563 205,087 1,314,445 206,968 1,290,212 214,774 1,262,102 216,915 1,269,828 214,989 1,260,159 209,561 1,243,520 195,622 1,228,822 188,311 1,210,947 182,147 1,191,342 179,213 1,164,726 174,391 N/A N/A Prisoner Civil Rights Filings in Fed. District Court Total Non-federal Filings / 1,000 Federal Def’ts Filings Def’ts Incar. Pop. 22,132 21,225 907 11.2 21,989 21,045 944 10.8 22,062 20,915 1,147 10.6 21,554 20,338 1,216 10.1 22,484 21,317 1,167 10.3 22,464 21,438 1,026 10.0 21,966 20,814 1,152 9.6 23,547 22,387 1,160 10.2 22,656 21,510 1,146 9.9 22,651 21,548 1,103 9.9 23,292 22,011 1,281 10.3 22,636 21,627 1,009 10.1 23,989 22,535 1,454 10.7 25,270 24,082 1,188 11.3 23,443 22,547 896 10.8 24,444 23,604 840 11.4 26,550 25,611 939 12.4 25,533 24,428 1,105 12.1 26,248 25,250 998 N/A 26,162 25,025 1,137 N/A Local Jail Pop. 641,333 665,362 694,040 719,878 736,740 761,823 770,012 778,201 772,897 758,632 749,994 752,998 759,472 763,122 732,970 733,127 740,512 737,126 N/A N/A 3 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 Table B: Pro Se Litigation in U.S. District Courts by Case Type, Cases Terminated Fiscal Years 1996–2020 Total Prisoner Civil Without Civil Habeas, Rights Civil Torts Labor Prisoner Case Rights / Quasi(NonRights, (Non- Statutory Product U.S. & or Habeas Category Conditions Criminal Bankr. Emp.) Immig. Other Emp. product) Actions Contract Liability Plaintiff Emp. Total Cases 1996 83.3% 72.2% 12.8% 29.6% 8.6% 10.2% 16.3% 5.0% 6.7% 2.3% 0.8% 1.6% 2.9% 26.9% 7.8% 1997 91.6% 78.2% 17.6% 32.8% 16.0% 12.4% 19.4% 5.4% 8.0% 2.3% 1.0% 0.9% 3.1% 28.1% 9.1% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 1998 Data NA NA NA 1999 88.6% 79.1% 18.1% 29.3% 13.6% 12.7% 18.5% 5.9% 7.4% 2.6% 0.6% 0.4% 3.4% 23.5% 7.8% 2000 95.6% 84.5% 18.2% 30.1% 29.9% 15.7% 20.3% 5.6% 7.2% 2.3% 1.5% 0.4% 3.8% 26.2% 8.6% 2001 96.1% 84.8% 17.7% 30.3% 47.8% 12.6% 20.3% 6.1% 6.9% 2.4% 3.1% 0.5% 3.6% 27.6% 9.0% 2002 96.3% 86.4% 17.7% 29.9% 51.6% 14.7% 19.9% 6.5% 6.8% 2.3% 1.6% 0.9% 3.2% 26.5% 8.6% 2003 96.7% 85.3% 19.5% 30.4% 35.8% 16.8% 20.8% 8.2% 7.2% 2.8% 0.8% 1.5% 3.3% 26.6% 9.1% 2004 96.9% 83.8% 18.7% 31.2% 28.2% 14.8% 21.2% 7.6% 6.1% 2.9% 0.9% 1.6% 3.1% 26.0% 9.1% 2005 96.3% 83.4% 18.1% 31.7% 19.2% 17.0% 20.8% 4.2% 6.2% 3.8% 1.8% 1.8% 3.0% 26.0% 8.6% 2006 96.5% 85.1% 19.0% 32.6% 18.9% 19.3% 19.2% 8.0% 7.0% 3.6% 1.5% 2.0% 3.0% 25.0% 8.2% 2007 96.4% 85.7% 20.5% 33.9% 20.5% 16.7% 18.7% 6.3% 8.4% 3.5% 2.5% 1.6% 2.7% 27.4% 9.5% 2008 96.2% 86.2% 23.9% 34.7% 32.4% 16.4% 18.9% 7.6% 7.5% 3.8% 2.5% 1.4% 3.0% 28.5% 9.8% 2009 95.2% 87.2% 22.1% 34.0% 32.8% 20.7% 18.8% 10.3% 7.7% 5.1% 1.2% 1.5% 3.0% 25.2% 8.9% 2010 94.8% 88.3% 19.8% 35.1% 28.5% 19.0% 19.2% 11.3% 7.9% 5.7% 3.6% 1.6% 2.9% 22.6% 8.8% 2011 94.9% 88.5% 19.2% 33.4% 34.8% 23.8% 19.9% 7.4% 7.7% 8.5% 2.1% 1.8% 2.9% 23.3% 9.0% 2012 94.9% 88.8% 20.5% 34.5% 35.4% 18.8% 19.8% 11.7% 8.5% 8.6% 1.1% 1.5% 2.9% 26.0% 10.5% 2013 94.1% 89.3% 21.2% 34.3% 36.0% 18.2% 18.6% 11.7% 7.6% 7.9% 1.8% 2.0% 2.8% 28.2% 11.1% 2014 92.1% 89.9% 14.5% 33.0% 36.0% 18.4% 18.3% 10.4% 7.4% 6.7% 2.7% 1.9% 2.9% 28.2% 10.7% 2015 93.2% 89.3% 24.1% 33.0% 31.0% 17.1% 17.9% 8.9% 7.3% 6.4% 1.6% 2.0% 3.2% 25.4% 9.7% 2016 93.0% 84.1% 29.1% 30.6% 29.3% 17.5% 17.5% 10.2% 7.0% 6.5% 1.4% 2.7% 3.0% 26.2% 9.8% 2017 92.9% 80.2% 30.6% 30.6% 31.7% 18.9% 17.4% 10.2% 7.3% 6.8% 1.0% 2.9% 2.8% 26.4% 9.6% 2018 92.7% 85.0% 32.5% 30.3% 33.2% 20.6% 17.5% 10.2% 7.3% 6.9% 1.5% 3.4% 2.7% 25.7% 10.2% 2019 92.3% 85.7% 27.5% 27.1% 24.3% 21.9% 17.9% 7.2% 7.1% 6.3% 1.0% 4.1% 2.9% 22.5% 8.6% 2020 92.4% 87.2% 34.3% 28.7% 20.2% 20.0% 17.3% 8.1% 7.0% 5.6% 5.0% 3.8% 2.8% 25.8% 10.2% 4 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 Table C: Outcomes in Prisoner Civil Rights Cases in Federal District Court, Fiscal Years 1988–2020 Outcomes, as % of Judgment Dispositions (a) Fisca l Year 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 (b) Filings Terminations 22,657 24,077 23,736 24,714 24,051 24,864 24,355 24,877 28,544 28,357 31,692 31,893 36,596 36,098 39,053 41,201 38,262 42,522 26,095 34,981 24,221 29,938 23,512 26,561 23,357 25,177 22,132 24,572 21,989 24,245 22,062 23,653 21,554 23,181 22,484 23,712 22,464 24,846 21,966 23,630 (c) (d) Pretrial Judgments, Decisio as % of ns for Terminations Deft. 96.1% 83.6% 96.2% 82.4% 95.9% 82.8% 94.9% 82.1% 94.7% 80.3% 94.8% 81.4% 94.1% 81.7% 94.4% 83.9% 94.6% 84.9% 95.6% 84.2% 95.4% 85.7% 94.0% 87.1% 92.8% 87.1% 93.1% 87.8% 93.3% 88.5% 92.6% 89.0% 89.4% 89.4% 87.4% 89.9% 86.4% 90.1% 84.8% 89.4% (e) Pretrial Decisio ns for Plaint. 1.1% 1.0% 1.1% 0.9% 1.2% 1.0% 0.8% 0.7% 0.6% 0.7% 0.5% 0.5% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.6% 0.4% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% (f) (g) Settled 7.1% 7.3% 7.6% 7.7% 7.6% 6.8% 7.3% 6.3% 5.6% 5.4% 5.2% 4.7% 4.2% 3.9% 3.7% 3.9% 3.9% 4.0% 4.3% 4.2% Vol. Dismi ssals 4.0% 5.1% 5.0% 6.1% 7.5% 8.0% 7.2% 6.6% 6.4% 6.9% 6.1% 5.3% 5.8% 5.8% 5.6% 5.2% 5.0% 4.7% 4.4% 5.2% (h) Trial s 3.5% 3.7% 3.4% 3.1% 3.3% 2.8% 3.0% 2.5% 2.6% 2.8% 2.5% 2.4% 2.4% 2.1% 1.8% 1.4% 1.3% 1.1% 1.0% 1.0% Timing of Settlements, as % of Settlements, per Vol. Dismissals (j) (k) (i) Plaint. Trial Vict., as Before % of Issue Trials Joined 13.8% 58.5% 13.8% 52.3% 15.3% 48.8% 14.5% 52.1% 11.7% 60.2% 14.8% 60.0% 12.3% 53.8% 10.4% 61.3% 8.9% 61.8% 10.4% 61.2% 8.5% 60.7% 11.4% 56.7% 13.3% 54.0% 13.7% 53.9% 8.4% 55.2% 13.9% 53.2% 14.0% 55.4% 11.0% 53.4% 16.9% 54.3% 13.5% 56.7% 5 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 After Issue Joined 41.5% 47.7% 51.2% 47.9% 39.8% 40.0% 46.2% 38.7% 38.2% 38.8% 39.3% 43.3% 46.0% 46.1% 44.8% 46.8% 44.6% 46.6% 45.7% 43.3% (l) All Plaint. Successes, as % of Judgments 12.7% 13.9% 14.3% 15.2% 16.8% 16.2% 15.7% 13.8% 12.8% 13.3% 12.0% 10.8% 10.8% 10.4% 9.9% 9.8% 9.5% 9.1% 9.1% 9.7% Outcomes, as % of Judgment Dispositions (a) Fisca l Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 (b) Filings Terminations 23,547 25,125 22,656 24,437 22,651 24,702 23,292 24,712 22,636 24,605 23,989 26,294 25,270 27,167 23,443 26,365 24,444 26,042 26,550 29,194 25,533 27,499 26,248 28,148 26,162 27,686 (c) (d) Pretrial Judgments, Decisio as % of ns for Terminations Deft. 88.0% 89.3% 91.8% 87.1% 91.1% 86.0% 90.4% 85.8% 90.8% 84.9% 90.9% 83.3% 90.8% 81.6% 90.6% 83.4% 90.8% 82.5% 89.9% 81.1% 90.8% 79.5% 91.6% 80.6% 91.6% 81.6% (e) Pretrial Decisio ns for Plaint. 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 0.4% 0.6% 0.4% 0.8% 0.4% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% (f) (g) Settled 3.9% 4.2% 4.9% 5.0% 5.0% 7.1% 8.2% 6.5% 6.4% 7.5% 7.5% 7.0% 5.9% Vol. Dismi ssals 4.8% 5.3% 5.3% 5.4% 5.4% 5.3% 5.6% 5.5% 6.1% 5.8% 6.3% 6.3% 6.3% (h) Trial s 1.2% 1.3% 1.3% 1.2% 1.4% 1.3% 1.2% 1.4% 1.2% 1.0% 1.1% 1.0% 0.6% Timing of Settlements, as % of Settlements, per Vol. Dismissals (j) (k) (i) Plaint. Trial Vict., as Before % of Issue Trials Joined 16.4% 53.2% 13.1% 51.2% 14.4% 47.6% 11.6% 49.5% 11.9% 50.6% 12.8% 50.6% 12.7% 50.1% 12.2% 45.5% 15.8% 44.8% 16.3% 41.1% 18.5% 45.6% 16.7% 43.9% 12.1% 42.1% 6 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 After Issue Joined 46.8% 48.8% 52.4% 50.5% 49.4% 49.4% 49.9% 54.5% 55.2% 58.9% 54.4% 56.1% 57.9% (l) All Plaint. Successes, as % of Judgments 9.4% 10.2% 10.8% 11.0% 11.1% 13.0% 14.7% 12.6% 13.2% 14.0% 14.6% 14.0% 12.8% Table D: Outcomes in Federal District Court Cases by Case Type, Fiscal Year 2020 Outcomes, as % of Judgment Dispositions (a) All Habeas, QuasiCriminal Prisoner Civ. Rghts Bankr. Immig. Civil Rights Stat. Actions Other Civil Rights, Emp. Torts (Nonproduct) U.S. Plaintiff Contract Product Liability Labor & Emp. (c) (d) Judg ment s, as % of Pretrial Term Decisio Filing Termin inatio ns for s ations ns Deft. 222,411 271,255 85.1% 41.1% 22,573 26,162 1,777 4,611 26,762 52,996 3,423 12,794 20,837 1,693 25,426 8,945 14,412 (b) 25,379 27,686 1,826 4,103 26,772 52,855 3,809 13,693 24,321 1,949 25,508 48,349 15,005 87.5% 91.6% 68.8% 92.3% 93.9% 71.0% 74.6% 92.9% 83.8% 93.0% 87.9% 85.5% 93.5% 88.3% 81.6% 76.9% 45.7% 42.4% 29.0% 42.2% 34.9% 30.2% 21.7% 25.1% 24.5% 16.4% (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) Timing of Settlements, as % of Settlements, per Vol. Dismissals (j) (k) (l) Plain. Trial Pretrial Vict., All Plaint. Decisio Vol. as % Before After Successes, ns for Dismi Trial of Issue Issue as % of Plaint. Settled ssals s Trials Joined Joined Judgments 4.2% 33.5% 19.2% 0.6% 40.7% 34.3% 65.7% 57.1% 2.6% 0.5% 2.2% 5.3% 2.4% 8.4% 16.3% 0.9% 1.7% 36.0% 9.2% 0.2% 9.4% 0.7% 5.9% 8.0% 8.1% 32.6% 31.8% 17.2% 47.3% 42.3% 22.9% 41.8% 55.1% 53.4% 3.3% 6.3% 11.5% 39.5% 21.0% 29.8% 20.9% 15.6% 24.2% 17.0% 22.5% 20.1% 19.5% 0.7% 0.6% 0.2% 0.1% 0.7% 0.6% 0.3% 0.8% 1.0% 0.6% 0.8% 0.1% 0.5% 8.1% 12.1% 33.3% 75.0% 33.9% 48.5% 66.7% 36.4% 54.8% 72.7% 65.5% 32.0% 56.9% 7 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 70.9% 42.1% 55.5% 75.9% 47.8% 48.1% 45.3% 16.1% 20.0% 49.1% 29.4% 27.6% 29.6% 29.1% 57.9% 44.5% 24.1% 52.2% 51.9% 54.7% 83.9% 80.0% 50.9% 70.6% 72.4% 70.4% 6.7% 12.8% 21.8% 53.0% 56.2% 70.3% 54.7% 64.1% 68.7% 76.3% 74.0% 75.3% 82.5% Table E: Prisoner Civil Rights Litigated Victories, FY 2012 Plaintiffs Wins Injunctive Matters <= $1,000 $1,001–13,000 25,000–80,000 $100,000 + Total Damages Awarded Cases with Damages Average Damages per Case Median Damages per Case Trials 36 4 15 8 7 2 $700,908 32 $21,903 $ 1,525 Non-trials 21 3 3 12 2 1 $339,862 18 $18,881 $7,000 All 57 7 18 20 9 3 $1,040,770 50 $20,815 $4,185 Table F: Incidence of Court Orders, Local Jails and State Prisons, 1983–2006 Year 1983 1988 Local 1993 Jails 1999 2006 1984 1990 State 1995 Prisons 2000 2005 (a) Total Facilities 3,338 3,316 3,268 3,365 3,282 694 957 1,084 1,042 1,067 (b) (c) (d) Facilities Total Population Housed in with Orders Population Facilities with Orders 18% 227,541 51% 18% 336,017 50% 18% 466,155 46% 17% 607,978 32% 11% 756,839 20% 27% 377,036 43% 28% 617,859 36% 32% 879,766 40% 28% 1,042,637 40% 18% 1,096,755 22% 8 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 Table G: Change in Prisoner Civil Rights Filings in U.S. District Court and Filing Rates, by State Fiscal Years 1995 vs. 2012, 2012 vs. 2018, and 1995 vs. 2018 1995 All U.S. Iowa Arkansas Mississippi Nebraska Missouri Virginia Alabama Delaware Louisiana Nevada Arizona Maine Tennessee Indiana Pennsylvania Kentucky Montana Colorado Wyoming Vermont Hawaii Kansas Wisconsin Utah Incar. Pop. Pris. Civ. Rights/ Cond. Filings 1,597,044 8,001 11,947 16,156 5,046 25,953 41,267 31,402 4,799 37,600 11,970 32,811 2,328 29,260 27,044 62,657 24,435 2,464 20,895 1,955 1,245 2,812 12,508 21,306 6,623 39,053 815 967 1,035 297 1,523 2,166 1,403 205 1,548 475 1,247 87 1,076 967 2,114 824 76 634 57 35 76 333 559 169 Filings/ 1,000 Incar. Pop. 24.5 101.9 80.9 64.1 58.9 58.7 52.5 44.7 42.7 41.2 39.7 38 37.4 36.8 35.8 33.7 33.7 30.8 30.3 29.2 28.1 27 26.6 26.2 25.5 State Ranking by Filing Rate 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 2012 Pris. Civ. Rights/ Cond. Filings Incar. Pop. 2,232,015 13,025 25,577 34,922 8,050 44,077 64,989 45,626 6,730 54,243 19,338 58,542 3,757 50,448 48,739 103,438 41,265 5,241 36,388 3,689 2,034 5,993 18,724 36,898 12,699 22,636 161 650 432 84 392 673 684 153 659 288 533 34 576 376 1,284 230 93 351 18 19 83 136 298 93 2018 State Pris. State Filings/ Filings/ Ranking Civ. Ranking 1,000 Incar. 1,000 by Rights/ by Incar. Pop. Incar. Filing Cond. Filing Pop. Pop. Rate Filings Rate 10.1 2,111,198 25,533 12.1 12.4 14 13,822 121 8.8 30 25.4 1 26,944 998 37 2 12.4 13 32,419 304 9.4 29 10.4 20 9,034 94 10.4 22 8.9 29 43,557 595 13.7 15 10.4 21 64,186 757 11.8 17 15 7 39,846 629 15.8 13 22.7 2 5,582 104 18.6 5 12.1 15 49,079 514 10.5 21 14.9 8 21,044 377 17.9 8 9.1 27 59,202 952 16.1 12 9 28 4,150 17 4.1 45 11.4 16 50,264 485 9.6 28 7.7 35 47,846 862 18 6 12.4 12 94,831 983 10.4 23 5.6 42 41,767 348 8.3 33 17.7 5 6,808 127 18.7 4 9.6 24 36,542 524 14.3 14 4.9 44 3,984 10 2.5 50 9.3 26 1,713 9 5.3 42 13.8 9 5,416 43 7.9 35 7.3 38 18,768 210 11.2 18 8.1 33 37,900 751 19.8 3 7.3 37 13,119 47 3.6 48 9 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 1995 West Virginia South Carolina Connecticut Washington Georgia Illinois Michigan Maryland Oklahoma North Carolina Rhode Island Texas New York Florida South Dakota Alaska Oregon New Hampshire Idaho New Jersey New Mexico Ohio California Minnesota Massachusetts North Dakota Incar. Pop. Pris. Civ. Rights/ Cond. Filings 6,989 27,173 15,740 20,471 66,131 58,398 56,452 33,703 21,767 39,000 2,854 192,977 104,509 111,113 3,263 2,864 13,988 3,122 5,097 43,435 8,984 57,630 216,289 11,449 20,009 1,135 169 648 370 481 1,496 1,270 1,217 708 437 760 54 3,597 1,860 1,968 57 50 227 47 75 639 124 746 2,575 124 153 8 Filings/ 1,000 Incar. Pop. 24.2 23.8 23.5 23.5 22.6 21.7 21.6 21 20.1 19.5 18.9 18.6 17.8 17.7 17.5 17.5 16.2 15.1 14.7 14.7 13.8 12.9 11.9 10.8 7.6 7 State Ranking by Filing Rate 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 2012 Incar. Pop. 20,713 41,268 18,497 29,925 103,464 76,126 62,144 35,469 38,515 62,488 3,042 257,431 88,851 170,850 6,271 6,388 21,856 4,612 11,321 45,301 17,131 73,454 229,253 20,267 24,425 2,695 Pris. Civ. Rights/ Cond. Filings 135 649 154 373 1,000 1,445 801 392 180 529 30 1,486 1,722 1,234 48 7 189 36 106 503 93 249 2,586 93 109 13 State Filings/ Ranking 1,000 by Incar. Filing Pop. Rate 6.5 40 15.7 6 8.3 32 12.5 11 9.7 23 19 4 12.9 10 11.1 19 4.7 46 8.5 31 9.9 22 5.8 41 19.4 3 7.2 39 7.7 36 1.1 50 8.6 30 7.8 34 9.4 25 11.1 18 5.4 43 3.4 49 11.3 17 4.6 47 4.5 48 4.8 45 10 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 Incar. Pop. 20,824 36,094 14,307 30,869 98,900 61,472 56,748 30,076 43,393 60,294 2,580 244,034 75,183 162,304 6,316 4,317 21,874 5,381 12,189 36,290 14,238 72,655 219,433 19,396 19,707 3,179 2018 Pris. State Filings/ Civ. Ranking 1,000 Rights/ by Incar. Cond. Filing Pop. Filings Rate 215 10.3 25 589 16.3 11 257 18 7 319 10.3 24 1,064 10.8 19 2,366 38.5 1 469 8.3 34 506 16.8 10 174 4 46 604 10 26 20 7.8 36 1,879 7.7 37 1,282 17.1 9 1,596 9.8 27 35 5.5 41 29 6.7 40 234 10.7 20 21 3.9 47 93 7.6 38 308 8.5 32 124 8.7 31 358 4.9 44 2,720 12.4 16 64 3.3 49 100 5.1 43 24 7.5 39 All U.S. Iowa Arkansas Mississippi Nebraska Missouri Virginia Alabama Delaware Louisiana Nevada Arizona Maine Tennessee Indiana Pennsylvania Kentucky Montana Colorado Wyoming Vermont Hawaii Kansas Wisconsin Utah West Virginia South Carolina Connecticut 1995-2012 Rate Change Rank Change N % -14.3 -58.5% -89.5 -87.9 13 -55.5 -68.6 -1 -51.7 -80.7 10 -48.4 -82.2 16 -49.8 -84.9 24 -42.1 -80.2 15 -29.7 -66.5 0 -20 -46.8 -6 -29 -70.4 6 -24.8 -62.5 -2 -28.9 -76 16 -28.3 -75.7 16 -25.4 -69.1 3 -28 -78.3 21 -21.3 -63.1 -3 -28.1 -83.3 26 -13.1 -42.5 -12 -20.7 -68.2 6 -24.3 -83.3 25 -18.8 -66.9 6 -13.2 -48.8 -12 -19.4 -72.9 16 -18.2 -69.4 10 -18.2 -71.3 13 -17.7 -73.2 15 -8.1 -34 -20 -15.2 -64.7 5 2012-2018 Rate Change Rank Change N % 2 19.7% -3.6 -29.1 16 11.6 45.6 1 -3 -24.3 16 0 0 2 4.8 54 -14 1.4 13.5 -4 0.8 5.3 6 -4.1 -18 3 -1.7 -14 6 3 20.1 0 7 76.9 -15 -5 -55.2 17 -1.8 -15.8 12 10.3 133.5 -29 -2 -16.1 11 2.8 50.2 -9 0.9 5.1 -1 4.7 48.7 -10 -2.4 -49.2 6 -4.1 -43.9 16 -5.9 -42.6 26 3.9 53.7 -20 11.7 144.9 -30 -3.7 -50.5 11 3.8 58.3 -15 0.6 3.8 5 9.6 115.3 -25 1995-2018 Rate Change Rank Change N % -12.4 -50.7% -93.1 -91.4 29 -43.9 -54.2 0 -54.7 -85.4 26 -48.5 -82.4 18 -45 -76.7 10 -40.7 -77.5 11 -28.9 -64.7 6 -24.1 -56.4 -3 -30.7 -74.6 12 -21.8 -54.9 -2 -21.9 -57.6 1 -33.3 -89.1 33 -27.1 -73.7 15 -17.7 -49.5 -8 -23.4 -69.4 8 -25.4 -75.3 17 -12.2 -39.6 -13 -16 -52.7 -4 -26.6 -91.2 31 -22.9 -81.5 22 -19.1 -70.7 14 -15.4 -57.8 -4 -6.4 -24.4 -20 -21.9 -85.8 24 -13.9 -57.5 0 -7.5 -31.5 -15 -5.5 -23.4 -20 11 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 All U.S. Washington Georgia Illinois Michigan Maryland Oklahoma North Carolina Rhode Island Texas New York Florida South Dakota Alaska Oregon New Hampshire Idaho New Jersey New Mexico Ohio California Minnesota Massachusetts North Dakota 1995-2012 Rate Change Rank Change N % -14.3 -58.5% -11 -46.8 -17 -13 -57.5 -6 -2.8 -12.9 -26 -8.7 -40.4 -21 -10 -47.6 -13 -15.4 -76.7 13 -11 -56.4 -3 -9.1 -48.1 -13 -12.9 -69.2 5 1.6 9 -34 -10.5 -59.3 1 -9.8 -56.1 -3 -16.4 -93.9 10 -7.6 -46.8 -11 -7.2 -47.8 -8 -5.4 -36.7 -18 -3.6 -24.5 -26 -8.4 -60.9 -2 -9.6 -74.2 3 -0.6 -5 -30 -6.2 -57.2 -1 -3.2 -41.8 -1 -2.2 -31.2 -5 2012-2018 Rate Change Rank Change N % 2 19.7% -2.1 -16.8 13 1.1 11.4 -4 19.5 102.7 -3 -4.6 -35.7 24 5.8 52.5 -9 -0.7 -15 0 1.6 18.9 -5 -2.1 -21.3 14 1.9 32.9 -4 -2.3 -11.9 6 2.6 36 -12 -2.1 -27.4 5 5.6 511 -10 2.1 24.3 -10 -3.9 -50 13 -1.7 -18.2 13 -2.6 -23.4 14 3.3 60.8 -12 1.5 44.2 -5 1.1 9.8 -1 -1.3 -28.3 2 0.6 13.4 -5 2.7 56 -6 1995-2018 Rate Change Rank Change N % -12.4 -50.7% -13.2 -56.2 -4 -11.9 -52.6 -10 16.7 76.8 -29 -13.3 -61.7 3 -4.2 -20 -22 -16.1 -80.2 13 -9.5 -48.8 -8 -11.2 -59.2 1 -10.9 -58.5 1 -0.7 -3.9 -28 -7.9 -44.6 -11 -11.9 -68.1 2 -10.7 -61.3 0 -5.5 -33.9 -21 -11.2 -74.4 5 -7.1 -48.3 -5 -6.2 -42.1 -12 -5.1 -37 -14 -8 -61.8 -2 0.5 4.2 -31 -7.5 -69.2 1 -2.6 -34 -6 0.5 7.1 -11 12 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 Table H: Days to Disposition, District Court Cases by Fiscal Year of Filing, 1988–2020 Prisoner Civil Rights/Conditions Cases "Other" Civil Rights Cases All Cases Except Prisoner Civil Rights/ Conditions 25th 50th 75th 25th 50th 75th 25th 50th 75th Percentile Percentile Percentile of Percentile Percentile of Percentile of Percentile Percentile Percentile of Docket of Docket Docket of Docket Docket Docket of Docket of Docket of Docket 1988 49 days 171 days 421 days 125 days 301 days 575 days 104 days 233 days 483 days 1989 42 days 162 days 424 days 119 days 294 days 566 days 106 days 241 days 501 days 1990 48 days 174 days 437 days 116 days 277 days 546 days 112 days 253 days 473 days 1991 57 days 191 days 448 days 121 days 294 days 553.5 days 108 days 236 days 448 days 1992 51 days 182 days 426 days 119 days 282 days 531 days 98 days 216 days 428 days 1993 49 days 176 days 408 days 95 days 261 days 501 days 95 days 224 days 434 days 1994 44 days 173 days 395 days 86 days 253 days 492 days 102 days 230 days 440 days 1995 37 days 146 days 364 days 110 days 280 days 504 days 105 days 226 days 433 days 1996 36 days 126 days 327 days 113 days 280 days 501 days 103 days 238 days 463 days 1997 42 days 125 days 316 days 115 days 280 days 518 days 99 days 235 days 437 days 1998 40 days 115 days 304 days 119 days 286 days 510 days 97 days 222 days 423 days 1999 40 days 114 days 330 days 118 days 282 days 510 days 98 days 219 days 421 days 2000 42 days 118 days 344 days 118 days 279 days 498 days 95 days 218 days 424 days 2001 42 days 115 days 334 days 117 days 276 days 497 days 100 days 234 days 442 days 2002 42 days 115 days 347 days 113 days 272 days 504 days 100 days 243 days 426 days 2003 43 days 126 days 371 days 115 days 270 days 504 days 109 days 245 days 449 days 2004 43 days 126 days 364 days 114 days 264 days 487 days 112 days 259 days 407 days 2005 43 days 130 days 352.5 days 113 days 273 days 512 days 94 days 222 days 432 days 2006 43 days 128 days 344 days 113 days 278.5 days 518 days 99 days 234 days 449 days 2007 42 days 115 days 368 days 104 days 272 days 517 days 104 days 250 days 489 days 2008 35 days 105 days 352 days 104 days 270 days 523 days 97 days 232 days 458 days 2009 39 days 120 days 372 days 105 days 275 days 537 days 96 days 228 days 441 days 2010 39 days 119 days 382 days 99 days 266 days 516 days 97 days 234 days 452 days 2011 41 days 130 days 406 days 101 days 267 days 510 days 98 days 236 days 456 days 2012 43 days 126 days 388 days 87 days 253 days 498 days 100 days 249 days 493 days 2013 42 days 123 days 384 days 91 days 250 days 496 days 120 days 303 days 691 days 2014 42 days 126 days 393 days 85 days 245 days 494 days 124 days 323 days 730 days 2015 49 days 140 days 421 days 77 days 238 days 503 days 105 days 264 days 543 days 2016 48 days 142 days 419 days 86 days 259 days 529 days 109 days 272 days 545 days 2017 52 days 137 days 422 days 76 days 241 days 520 days 93 days 225 days 435 days 2018 51 days 148 days 449 days 71 days 226 days 511 days 91 days 223 days 434 days 2019 56 days 161 days 478 days 79 days 245 days 605 days 88 days 218 days 447 days 2020 57 days 172 days Pending 81 days Pending Pending 94 days 331 days Pending Fiscal Year 13 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 Data notes, by Margo Schlanger & German Marquez Alcala\ Version 2: May 5, 2021 Tables A-D, G-H: Federal district court lawsuit counts come from the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) Integrated Database (IDB) (https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb/civil-cases-filed-and-terminated-sy-1970through-sy-1987 and https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb/civil-cases-filed-terminated-and-pendingsy-1988-present). • Filing and termination counts for any particular year include cases filed/terminated within the statistical/fiscal year. • Between 1970 and 1991, FJC statistical years ran from July of the prior calendar year through the end of June of the current calendar year (e.g., statistical year 1980 began on July 1, 1979 and ended on June 30, 1980). Starting in 1991, FJC statistical years matched the federal government’s fiscal year (i.e., October of the previous year through September of the listed year); Fiscal Year 1992 began on July 1, 1991 and ended on September 30, 1992. All subsequent years follow the federal government’s fiscal year schedule. We refer to all FJC statistical years as “fiscal years” for simplicity. • Prisoner civil rights/conditions tallies include cases with a Nature of Suit (NOS) code of 550 (“Prisoner - Civil Rights”) or 555 (“Prisoner - Prison Condition”). • For other subject matters, We used Nature of Suit codes as follows: o Contract: 110 (Insurance), 120 (Marine Contract Actions), 130 (Miller Act), 140 (Negotiable Instruments), 151 (Overpayments under the Medicare Act), 190 (Other Contract Actions), 196 (Contract Franchise), and 220 (Foreclosure). o Torts (nonproduct): 160 (Stockholder’s Suits), 240 (Torts to Land), 310 (Airplane Personal Injury), 320 (Assault, Libel, and Slander), 330 (Federal Employers’ Liability), 340 (Marine Personal Injury), 350 (Motor Vehicle Personal Injury), 360 (Other Personal Injury), 362 (Medical Malpractice), 370 (Other Fraud), 371 (Truth in Lending), and 380 (Other Personal Property Damage). o Product Liability: 195 (Contract Product Liability), 245 (Tort Product Liability), 315 (Airplane Product Liability), 345 (Marine - Product Liability), 355 (Motor Vehicle Product Liability), 365 (Personal Injury - Product Liability), 367 (Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical), 368 (Asbestos Personal Injury Prod. Liab.), and 385 (Property Damage -Product Liability). o Civil Rights: 400 (State Re-Apportionment), 440 (Other Civil Rights), 441 (Civil Rights Voting), 443 (Civil Rights Accommodations), 444 (Civil Rights Welfare), 446 (Civil Rights, ADA Other), 448 (Civil Rights, Education), and 950 (Constitutionality of State Statutes). o Civil Rights, Employment: 442 (Civil Rights Jobs) and 445 (Civil Rights, ADA Employment). o Labor and Employment: 191 (Employee Relations), 361 (Workman's Compensation (Industrial Accident Board)), 710 (Fair Labor Standards Act), 720 14 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 (Labor/Management Relations Act), 730 (Labor/Management Report & Disclosure), 740 (Railway Labor Act), 750 (Welfare Pension Plan Disclosure), 751 (Family and Medical Leave Act), 790 (Other Labor Litigation), and 791 (Employee Retirement Income Security Act). o Statutory Actions: 192 (State Fair Trade Act), 375 (False Claims Act), 376 (Unknown), 410 (Antitrust), 430 (Banks And Banking), 450 (Interstate Commerce), 470 (Civil (RICO)), 480 (Consumer Credit), 485 (Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 490 (Cable/Satellite TV), 610 (Agricultural Acts), 810 (Selective Service), 820 (Copyright), 830 (Patent), 835 (Patent Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA)), 840 (Trademark), 850 (Securities, Commodities, Exchange), 860 (Social Security), 861 (Medicare), 862 (Black Lung), 863 (D.I.W.C./D.I.W.W.), 864 (S.S.I.D.), 865 (R.S.I.), 870 (Tax Suits), 871 (IRS 3rd Party Suits 26 USC 7609), 875 (Customer Challenge 12 USC 3410), 890 (Other Statutory Actions, 891 (Agricultural Acts), 892 (Economic Stabilization Act), 893 (Environmental Matters), 894 (Energy Allocation Act), 895 (Freedom of Information Act of 1974), and 900 (Appeal of Fee - Equal Access to Justice). o U.S. Plaintiff: 150 (Overpayments & Enforcement of Judgments), 152 (Recovery of Defaulted Student Loans), 153 (Recovery of Overpayments of Vet Benefits), 193 (Hospital Care Act), 210 (Land Condemnation), 620 (Food and Drug Acts), 625 (Drug Related Seizure of Property), 630 (Liquor Laws), 640 (Railroad and Trucks), 650 (Airline Regulations), 660 (Occupational Safety/Health), 690 (Other Forfeiture and Penalty Suits), and 970 (NARA, Title III). o Habeas, Quasi-Criminal: 510 (Prisoner Petitions -Vacate Sentence), 520 (Parole Board Review), 530 (Prisoner Petitions -Habeas Corpus), 535 (Habeas Corpus: Death Penalty), 540 (Prisoner Petitions -Mandamus and Other), and 560 (Civil Detainee). o Bankruptcy: 422 (Bankruptcy Appeals Rule 28 USC 158), 423 (Bankruptcy Withdrawal 28 USC 157), and 940 (Substitute Trustee). o Immigration: 460 (Deportation), 461 (Deportation - Review), 462 (Naturalization, Petition for Hearing of Denial), 463 (Habeas Corpus - Alien Detainee), and 465 (Other Immigration Actions). o Other: 100 (Indemnity of Admiralty Cases), 112 (Unknown), 114 (Unknown), 122 (Unknown), 125 (Unknown), 141 (Unknown), 170 (Unknown), 230 (Rent, Lease, Ejectment), 241 (Unknown), 290 (Other Real Property Actions), 341 (Unknown), 351 (Unknown), 390 (Unknown), 416 (Unknown), 420 (Trustee), 421 (Transfer), 451 (Unknown), 511 (Unknown), 531 (Unknown), 711 (Unknown), 876 (Unknown), 880 (Review of Enforcement), 896 (Arbitration), 899 (APA/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision), 910 (Domestic Relations), 920 (Insanity), 930 (Probate), 971 (Unknown), 990 (Other), 991 (Unknown), 992 (Local Jurisdictional Appeal), and 999 (Miscellaneous). • Cases with federal defendants are those with U.S. district court jurisdiction code equal to 2; all others are considered non-federal defendants. 15 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 • For all tables, filings means original filings, rather than remands or reopenings. The counts use only origin codes of 1 (original proceeding), 2 (removed from state court), or 7 (appeal of magistrate judgment to a district judge). • All terminations are counted, not merely those that come from original filings. • Because they distort the trends and because courts entered abusive litigant orders that minimized their impact, We omit any cases filed by a plaintiff named “Maisano” (often only plaintiff surnames are stored in the IDB) in or after the calendar year 2009. These amount to: Fiscal Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Pending Total Cases Filed 33 73 49 65 692 3955 252 1670 789 129 240 1 7948 Cases Terminated 19 84 49 68 624 3984 286 1541 922 79 290 1 1 7948 Table A: Incarcerated Population and Prison/Jail Civil Rights Filings, FY1970–FY2020 The total incarcerated population is the sum of total U.S. populations in state prisons, federal prisons, and local jails. State prison populations are single-day counts on December 31 of each respective calendar year. • 1970 counts originate from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report named “Historical Statistics on Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions, Yearend 1925–86” (May 1988) (https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111098NCJRS.pdf). The exact counts are of sentenced prisoners in state institutions and are listed in Table 1, on p. 11. • 1971–74 counts originate from the U.S. Dept. of Justice National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) report named “Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions on December 31, 1974” (June 1976) (https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/ 34707NCJRS.pdf). 1971–73 counts are of sentenced prisoners in state institutions at yearend and are listed in Table 1 of Appendix I on p. 14. 1974 counts are of the total number of persons held in state institutions on December 31, 1974 and are listed in Table 1 of Appendix II on p. 36. 16 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 • 1975 counts originate from the NCJRS report named “Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions on December 31, 1975” (February 1977) (https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ Digitization/39194NCJRS.pdf). The exact counts are of the total number of persons held in state institutions on December 31, 1975 and are listed in Table 1 of Appendix II on p. 36. • 1976 counts originate from the NCJRS report named “Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions on December 31, 1976” (February 1978) (https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ Digitization/43310NCJRS.pdf). The exact counts are of the total number of persons held in state institutions on December 31, 1976 and are listed in Table 1 of Appendix II on p. 32. • 1977 counts originate from the BJS report named “Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions on December 31, 1978” (May 1980) (https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/psfi78.pdf). The exact counts are of all prisoners in custody of state authorities on December 31, 1977 and are listed in the Special Table of Appendix III on p. 42. • 1978–2019 counts originate from the BJS National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) Program. BJS compiles NPS state prison counts by state in their Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) Quick Tables, which are the specific files used for this project. • We use year-end custody population tables—specifically, 1978–1998 state prison counts come from the Quick Table named “Inmates in custody of state or federal correctional facilities, excluding private prison facilities, December 31, 1978-2019” (https://www.bjs.gov/nps/resources/documents/QT_custody%20population%20without% 20private%20prisons_total.xlsx). 1999–2019 state prison counts come from the Quick Table named “Inmates in custody of state or federal correctional facilities, including private prison facilities, December 31, 1999–2019” (https://www.bjs.gov/nps/resources/ documents/QT_custody%20population%20including%20private%20prisons_total.xlsx). • 1978–1998 counts are of all prisoners in custody of state facilities, excluding privately managed facilities. 1999–2019 counts are of all prisoners in custody of state facilities, including privately managed facilities. U.S. total federal prison populations are single-day counts on December 31 of each respective calendar year. • The 1970 U.S. count originates from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report named “Historical Statistics on Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions, Yearend 1925–86” (May 1988) (https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111098NCJRS.pdf). The exact count is of sentenced prisoners in federal institutions and is listed in Table 1, on p. 11, in the row labeled “U.S. total, Federal.” • 1971–74 U.S. counts originate from the U.S. Dept. of Justice National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) report named “Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions on December 31, 1974” (June 1976) (https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/ 34707NCJRS.pdf). 1971–73 counts are of sentenced prisoners in federal institutions at yearend and are listed in Table 1 of Appendix I on p. 14, in the row labeled “Federal institutions, Total.” The 1974 count is of the total number of persons held in federal 17 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 institutions on December 31, 1974 and is listed in Table 1 of Appendix II on p. 36, in the row labeled “Federal institutions, Total.” • The 1975 U.S. count originates from the NCJRS report named “Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions on December 31, 1975” (February 1977) (https://www.ojp.gov/ pdffiles1/Digitization/39194NCJRS.pdf). The exact count is of the total number of persons held in federal institutions on December 31, 1975 and is listed in Table 1 of Appendix II on p. 36, in the row labeled “Federal institutions, Total.” • The 1976 U.S. count originates from the NCJRS report named “Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions on December 31, 1976” (February 1978) (https://www.ojp.gov/ pdffiles1/Digitization/43310NCJRS.pdf). The exact count is of the total number of persons held in federal institutions on December 31, 1976 and is listed in Table 1 of Appendix II on p. 32, in the row labeled “Federal institutions, Total.” • The 1977 U.S. count originates from the BJS report named “Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions on December 31, 1978” (May 1980) (https://www.bjs.gov/content/ pub/pdf/psfi78.pdf). The exact count is of all prisoners in custody of federal authorities on December 31, 1977 and is listed in the Special Table of Appendix III on p. 42, in the row labeled “Federal institutions, Total.” • 1978–2019 U.S. counts originate from the BJS National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) Program. BJS compiles BOP federal prisoner counts by facility in their Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) Quick Tables, which are the specific files used for this project. • We use year-end custody population tables—specifically, 1978–1998 U.S. total federal prisoner counts come from the Quick Table named “Inmates in custody of state or federal correctional facilities, excluding private prison facilities, December 31, 1978-2019” (https://www.bjs.gov/nps/resources/documents/QT_custody%20population%20without% 20private%20prisons_total.xlsx). 1999–2019 U.S. total federal prisoner counts come from the Quick Table named “Inmates in custody of state or federal correctional facilities, including private prison facilities, December 31, 1999–2019” (https://www.bjs.gov/nps/resources/documents/QT_custody%20population%20including %20private%20prisons_total.xlsx). In both Quick Tables, the U.S. total federal prison populations are the counts in the row labeled “Federal.” • 1978–1998 counts are of all prisoners in custody of federal facilities, excluding privately managed facilities. 1999–2019 federal prisoner counts are of all prisoners in custody of federal facilities, including privately managed facilities and community housing—with the exception of home confinement (Source: email correspondence with E. Ann Carson, Ph.D., BJS Statistician; on file with author). • Note that the U.S. total count of federal prisoners in our final dataset is not equivalent to the simple sum of federal prisoner counts across all states (and D.C.) in any given year (see Table G notes below for state-level federal prison sources). U.S. total counts include populations in community-based corrections facilities (e.g., contract juvenile facilities and Residential Reentry Centers/RRCs); BOP does not report these counts on a facility basis, so it is not possible to divide these populations by state; they are accounted for only in the nationwide tallies. 18 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 Local jail populations are based on average daily populations (ADPs) for each jail jurisdiction in each respective calendar year. • 1970–2018 local jail ADPs for all local jail jurisdictions in the U.S. come from the Incarceration Trends dataset, compiled and published by the Vera Institute of Justice (project description: https://www.vera.org/projects/incarceration-trends/overview; data location: https://github.com/vera-institute/incarceration-trends) using various jail datasets, including the Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ) and the Census of Jails (COJ)—both surveys from BJS. • U.S. annual totals are calculated by summing ADPs of all local jail jurisdictions nationwide. These ADPs include all individuals housed in local jails. Table B. Pro Se Litigation in U.S. District Courts by Case Type, Cases Terminated Fiscal Years 1996–2020 Pro se litigation data are missing for more than 99% of cases terminated in Fiscal Year 1998. Table C. Outcomes in Prisoner Civil Rights Cases in Federal District Court, Fiscal Years 1988–2020 and Table D. Outcomes in Federal District Court Cases by Case Type, Fiscal Year 2020 • Column (a) lists each total original filings (excluding remands or reopenings). • Column (b) describes each fiscal year’s total terminations, regardless of filing dates. • Percentages under Column (c) present the proportion of terminations that ended as a result of either a pretrial resolution, voluntary dismissal, settlement, arbitration appeal, or trial (including jury verdicts, directed verdicts, and bench verdicts). • Percentages under Columns (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) present the proportion of terminations that ended with a judgment disposition (i.e., those cases described by Column (c)) that terminated specifically as a result of a pretrial resolution in favor of the defendant, a pretrial resolution in favor of the plaintiff, a settlement, a voluntary dismissal, or a trial, respectively. • Percentages under Column (i) present the proportion of terminations that received judgment dispositions after a trial (i.e., those cases described by Column (h)) in which the disposition favored the plaintiff. • Percentages under Columns (j) and (k) present the proportion of terminations resulting from settlements or voluntary dismissals (i.e., those cases described by Columns (f) and (g)) terminated before and after the issue was joined, respectively. • Percentages under Column (l) present the proportion of terminations that ended with a judgment disposition (i.e., those cases described by Column (c)) in which the disposition favored the plaintiff. 19 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 • For precise details on the IDB codes included and excluded for each column, see the replication code. Table E: Prisoner Civil Rights Litigated Victories, FY 2012 This Table appears as Table 7 in Margo Schlanger, Trends in Prisoner Litigation, as the PLRA Enters Adulthood, 5 U.C. Irvine L. Rev. 153 (2015), https://www.law.uci.edu/lawreview/vol5/ no1/Schlanger.pdf. Schlanger began with the FJC IDB, https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb, listing of each prisoner civil rights/conditions case (that is, each case with a nature of suit == 550 or 555) that was coded as ending with a trial or other litigated judgment in Fiscal Year 2012, then the latest data available. Using docket research, Schlanger then examined each case individually. Of those cases that met these initial selection criteria, most turned out to be defendants’ victories, and others turned out to be settlements: both were excluded. The table presents what’s left. Table F: Incidence of Court Orders, Local Jails and State Prisons, 1983–2006 The data for this table are compiled from the BJS jail censuses for 1983, 1988, 1993, 1999, and 2006, and the BJS prison censuses for 1984, 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005. The jail censuses are described at https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=254; the prison censuses are described at https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=255. The questions whose data are presented were not asked in the 2012/2013 iteration of the censuses. They were asked in 2019, but those data have not yet been released. Data from all the BJS censuses are available for download at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research: • Jail iterations are at https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/series/68 • Prison iterations are at https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/series/67 More particularly: • • • • • • 1983 National Jail Census (Version Date: Nov. 4, 2005): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/8203 1988 National Jail Census (Version Date: Nov. 4, 2005): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/9256 1993 National Jail Census (Version Date: Jul. 13, 1996): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/6648 1999 National Jail Census (Version Date: Jul. 9, 2009): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/3318 2006 Census of Jail Facilities (Version Date: Jan. 26, 2010): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/26602 1984 Census of State Adult Correctional Facilities (Version Date: Nov. 4, 2005): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/8444 20 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 • • • • 1990 Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities (CSFACF) (Version Date: Dec. 21, 2001): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/9908 1995 CSFACF (Version Date: Mar. 21, 2003): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/6953 2000 CSFACF (Version Date: Nov. 4, 2005): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/4021 2005 CSFACF (Version Date: May 12, 2017): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/studies/24642 We appended all ten datasets and gave variables more intuitive, standardized names. We kept only a few of the available variables—namely, any identifying variables, including facility/jurisdiction ID numbers, facility/jurisdiction names, states, addresses, etc.; population variables, including single-day population counts and average daily populations; and any variables describing active court orders filed against the facility/jurisdiction. We then excluded a number of categories of facilities from the table: • One local jail in Puerto Rico from the 2006 jail census (the only facility outside the 50 U.S. states and D.C. in this dataset). • Community-based facilities. o There are no such facilities in the jail censuses. o In the prison censuses, these types of facilities are most often classified with a categorical variable denoting them as community-based facilities. However, the 1995 and 2005 prison censuses defined community-based facilities as those in which 50%, or more, of the inmate population is allowed to regularly leave the facility without the supervision of facility staff. The 2000 prison census includes both types of variables, which do not line up perfectly; we chose the categorical variable (namely, variable V4A8), which denotes whether a facility includes community corrections as part of their duties. • All federal facilities, jail or prison, and private facilities that house federal prisoners. o Note: In the 2000 census data, federal prisons are denoted by a supervising authority variable. However, differences between resulting population numbers and published population figures prompted closer examination of private and DC facilities; extra-census information revealed that 22 facilities in the 2000 prison census not so denoted were actually federal. These are marked and excluded from the table. Facility ID 448000000079997300000 098001001071800000000 038011666072200000000 118060666072000000000 058015666072000000000 058015666070200000000 448048666070100000000 092001001070700000000 038000000073100000000 060000000076900000000 Facility Name VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA CORRECTIONAL TREATMENT FAC - CCA ELOY DETENTION CENTER - CCA COMPREHENSIVE SANCTION CENTER CALIFORNIA CITY CORR FAC. TAFT CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION - WACKENHUT EDEN DETENTION CENTER CCA MAXIMUM SECURITY FACILITY CENTRAL AZ DETENTION CENTER - CCA THE HAVEN 21 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 Facility ID 338031666070400000000 058019666071700000000 338031666070200000000 458018666070100000000 448101666071600000000 338031666070300000000 058019666071450000000 018051666072400000000 448223666071500000000 448108666071600000000 058001666071600000000 058037666071800000000 Facility Name BRONX COMMUNITY CORR CTR.- CSC EL MONTE CENTER - CORNELL CORRECTIONS BROOKLYN COMMUNITY CENTER SALT LAKE CITY CENTER-CORNELL CORRS LEIDEL COMPREHENSIVE SANCTION CENTER-CORNELL LE MARQUIS COMMUNITY CORR. CENTER CSC VINELAND CCC BANNUM PL OF MONTGOMERY CCC REALITY HOUSE - CSI MIDVALLEY HOUSE - CSI OAKLAND CENTER SAN DIEGO CENTER Table F tallies facilities and population. • It counts as 1 facility all the jails in a particular jurisdiction (that is, a city or county). In addition, if any jail facility reports a court order, we count that court order as applicable to the jail jurisdiction’s entire population. This approach was necessitated by the fact that some jail jurisdictions reported only jurisdiction-level information, while others reported facility-by-facility. • The types of court orders tallied in Table F encompass whatever categories the relevant year’s census asked about. This includes: population, crowding, administrative segregation, classification, counseling, disability, discipline, education, fire safety, food and hygiene, grievance, library, medical, mental health, recreation, religion, staffing, totality, visiting, or any other kind of conditions court order. • Population counts use Average Daily Population (ADP) data. A few facilities in the 1988 and 2006 jail censuses did not report ADP; we used single-day counts for those facilities. Table G: Change in Prisoner Civil Rights Filings in U.S. District Court and Filing Rates, by State, Fiscal Years 1995 vs. 2012, 2012 vs. 2018, and 1995 vs. 2018 This Table compares state-level incarcerated populations and prisoner civil rights/conditions lawsuit filings in federal court—as counts and rates per 1,000 incarcerated people. We use three benchmark years: 1995, the year prior to the enactment of PLRA; 2012, the last year for which full incarceration and civil filings data were available when an earlier version of this table was published in Margo Schlanger, Trends in Prisoner Litigation, as the PLRA Enters Adulthood, 5 U.C. Irvine L. Rev. 153 (2015), https://www.law.uci.edu/lawreview/vol5/no1/Schlanger.pdf, and 2018, the most recent year for which full data are currently available. • We exclude D.C. and all U.S. territories. • The total incarcerated population for each state is the sum of each state’s total populations in state prisons, federal prisons, and local jails. Sources for state prison populations by state and local jail populations by state are equivalent to those described in the notes for Table A, above. State prison populations by state are published as statelevel, single-day counts; local jail populations by state are published as facility-level 22 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 average daily counts, which we aggregate by state. While U.S. total counts of federal prison populations are published by BJS, state-level populations of federal prisoners are not. These state-level federal prison population data originate from Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) annual population reports by facility, which we aggregated by state. These are single-day counts of all persons housed in public BOP facilities and privately managed facilities at fiscal yearend (i.e., on September 31 of each respective year). • 1970–1993 federal prisoner counts by facility come from annual statistical reports published by BOP. 1970–1986 counts are listed in Table A-2 of each respective year’s report. 1987 counts are listed in Table 10 of the 1987 annual report. 1988–1989 counts are listed in Table 12 of each respective year’s report. 1990–1993 counts are listed in Table A13 of each respective year’s report. • 1994–2013 federal prisoner counts by facility, which include public and privately managed facilities but not community-based facilities, come from Jennifer Batchelder, Supervisory Research Analyst in the Office of Research and Evaluation at BOP, via a June 13, 2014 email, on file with author. • 2014–2020 federal prison counts by facility come directly from the BOP website where weekly population updates are posted (https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/ population_statistics.jsp). These counts were downloaded in 2020 using an archived version of the BOP website via the Wayback Machine (https://archive.org/web/). Because the BOP website was not archived weekly during these years, only a few counts exist on the archived website. We selected the archived population reports that are as close to the end of September as possible. • 2014 federal prison facility population tallies were published on June 12, 2014 (https://web.archive.org/web/20140612200552/https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/popu lation_statistics.jsp). • 2015 federal prison facility population tallies were published on January 28, 2016 (https://web.archive.org/web/20160128175011/https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/popu lation_statistics.jsp). • 2016 federal prison facility population tallies were published on December 15, 2016 (https://web.archive.org/web/20161221193320/https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/popu lation_statistics.jsp). • 2017 federal prison facility population tallies were published on September 28, 2017 (https://web.archive.org/web/20171005164536/https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/popu lation_statistics.jsp). • 2018 federal prison facility population tallies were published on October 11, 2018 (https://web.archive.org/web/20181003135256/https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/popu lation_statistics.jsp). • 2019 federal prison facility population tallies were published on October 17, 2019 (https://web.archive.org/web/20191011135116/https://www.bop.gov/mobile/about/popul ation_statistics.jsp). 23 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658 • 2020 federal prison facility population tallies were published on October 8, 2020 (https://web.archive.org/web/20201008171343/https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/popu lation_statistics.jsp). • Filing rates by state are calculated by dividing the state-level counts of prisoner civil rights/conditions filings by the state-level counts of incarcerated people, and multiplying the resulting fraction by 1,000. • States are ordered in ascending order of 1995 state filing rate rankings. • Prisoner civil rights/conditions filing rate changes between 1995 and 2012, 2012 and 2018, and 1995 and 2018 are reported in terms of net change per 1,000 incarcerated people, percent change, and net changes in filing rate rank. Table H: Days to Disposition, District Court Cases by Fiscal Year of Filing, 1988–2020 • Only initial filings are counted Days to disposition for any particular case in the FJC IDB are the total number of calendar days between that case’s filing and termination dates. • By fiscal year of filing, we then calculate the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of the distribution of days-to-disposition for three samples: all prisoner civil rights/conditions cases, “other civil rights cases” (i.e., Nature of Suit code 440), and all cases other than prisoner civil rights/conditions cases. (Pending cases are included in the count.) 24 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3834658