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
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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
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(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
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•

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
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•

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
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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.
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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
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•

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
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•
•
•
•

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

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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
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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