Wrongful Death Actions Under Section 1983: A Roundtable Dialogue

At the time this Article was published, wrongful death actions that were asserted under § 1983 had proven to be very complex matters. Between and among the lower federal courts, there was disagreement on how to resolve these cases. In this Article, an esteemed panel worthy of addressing such a difficult topic discusses and analyzes such cases. The authors begin by examining how courts handle questions of survivorship of claims, and the importance of keeping the survivorship and wrongful death issues separate. They also address cases in which the argument is raised about a deficiency in the federal law, why such deficiencies are not always obvious, and whether it is still necessary to determine whether the state statutes turned to in instances of federal law deficiencies are consistent with § 1983 policies. Lastly, the authors explore different state rulings in response to recovery of damages for the surviving plaintiff and supplemental state law wrongful death claims.