Prisoner - civil rights
Federal civil · Prisoner Petitions · 731,260 cases filed and closed (1988–present).
731,260
Cases filed
75.3%
Ended before a merits judgment
550,649 of 731,260 cases
2.2%
Plaintiff win
of 180,611 merits judgments
91%
Defendant win
of merits judgments
How they closed
- Dismissed63.6%
- Defendant win22.5%
- Settled4.9%
- Transferred4%
- Other2.3%
- Decided — other1.5%
- Plaintiff win0.5%
- Affirmed0.2%
- Remanded0.2%
- Mixed0.2%
- Denied0%
Where you file matters
The same claim resolves differently across districts. Plaintiff-win rate among merits judgments, busiest courts first.
- District Court, E.D. California36,915 cases · 9,634 decided0.6%
- District Court, E.D. Texas23,710 cases · 969 decided4.2%
- District Court, N.D. Texas23,535 cases · 5,407 decided0.9%
- District Court, C.D. California18,861 cases · 1,840 decided2.5%
- District Court, S.D. Texas18,347 cases · 1,657 decided2.8%
- District Court, N.D. Georgia18,326 cases · 7,919 decided0.6%
- District Court, D. Maryland17,610 cases · 4,851 decided2.8%
- District Court, E.D. Virginia16,652 cases · 1,250 decided1.6%
- District Court, S.D. New York16,356 cases · 1,902 decided4.1%
- District Court, D. New Jersey16,175 cases · 3,484 decided3.1%
- District Court, M.D. Florida15,918 cases · 2,606 decided1%
- District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania15,304 cases · 4,720 decided1.5%
- District Court, N.D. California14,390 cases · 3,542 decided1.8%
- District Court, D. Arizona13,909 cases · 7,876 decided1.5%
- District Court, W.D. Virginia13,854 cases · 2,289 decided1.7%
- District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania13,636 cases · 1,157 decided5.1%
- District Court, M.D. Tennessee13,077 cases · 783 decided3.2%
- District Court, E.D. Missouri12,268 cases · 1,638 decided4.6%
- District Court, N.D. New York12,184 cases · 3,867 decided1.6%
- District Court, S.D. Florida12,011 cases · 2,009 decided2.9%
- District Court, D. Nevada11,545 cases · 2,669 decided2.7%
- District Court, N.D. Illinois11,494 cases · 2,153 decided6%
- District Court, W.D. Texas11,493 cases · 1,669 decided3.1%
- District Court, E.D. Michigan11,049 cases · 4,572 decided2.1%
- District Court, W.D. Missouri10,042 cases · 1,908 decided4.2%
- District Court, D. Colorado9,963 cases · 1,096 decided3.4%
- District Court, E.D. Louisiana9,767 cases · 5,810 decided1.7%
- District Court, N.D. Alabama9,675 cases · 647 decided8.5%
- District Court, M.D. Louisiana9,169 cases · 1,374 decided1.9%
- District Court, W.D. Louisiana9,085 cases · 869 decided2.1%
Source: FJC Integrated Database (public domain), via CourtListener — federal civil cases filed and terminated, 1988–present. Figures are descriptive statistics about how cases of a given type have closed in a given court. They describe the historical record — not a prediction or assessment of any specific case. Not legal advice.