Recovery in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania gives the narrowest state-law remedy of the four states on this site. A city or township is immune from damages except for nine categories of negligence, none of which is an arrest, a beating or a fabricated case. There is no damages action under the Pennsylvania Constitution, and we know of no Pennsylvania statute analogous to Section 1983. So the federal claim carries these cases: two years, no cap, no notice. This page goes through the immunity, the statutory caps, indemnification, the records rules, and every public Pennsylvania figure in our ledger.
In New York the state-law claims add value. In Pennsylvania they add very little, because the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act immunizes the city from nearly everything a police officer does on purpose. What remains under state law is a claim against the officer personally, if a court finds willful misconduct. The federal claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 does the work.
Alexander Susi is admitted in Pennsylvania. The figures further down are public records of other people's cases, most of them paid by the City of Philadelphia; nothing on this site estimates yours.
Local agencies: immune, with nine negligence exceptions
The statute starts from immunity: "no local agency shall be liable for any damages" on account of an injury caused by the agency or its employees, except as the subchapter provides (42 Pa.C.S. § 8541). The exceptions are in § 8542(b). There are nine: vehicles; personal property; real property; trees, traffic controls and street lighting; utilities; streets; sidewalks; animals; and sexual abuse, added in 2019. Every one of them requires a negligent act. A false arrest, an assault and a malicious prosecution are intentional torts. They fit none of the nine.
Willful misconduct: § 8550
The officer is a different matter. Where it is judicially determined that the employee's act was a crime, actual fraud, actual malice or willful misconduct, the employee loses three protections at once: official immunity, the right to be indemnified by the agency, and the damages limit (42 Pa.C.S. § 8550). That opens a state-law claim against the officer personally. It also removes the agency's duty to pay for it, which is the practical problem with a state-law judgment in Pennsylvania.
The statutory caps
Where a local agency is liable, damages are limited to $500,000 in the aggregate per occurrence. Pain and suffering is recoverable only for death, or for permanent loss of a bodily function, permanent disfigurement or permanent dismemberment where medical expenses exceed $1,500. The cap does not apply to sexual abuse claims (42 Pa.C.S. § 8553). For Commonwealth agencies the limit is $250,000 per plaintiff and $1,000,000 in the aggregate, there are ten exceptions to sovereign immunity, and the cap again does not apply to the sexual abuse exception (42 Pa.C.S. §§ 8522(b), 8528). Every figure in this paragraph is a statutory cap or a statutory threshold on a state-law claim. None is a settlement, and none limits the federal claim.
Indemnification: § 8548
A local agency "shall indemnify" an employee for a judgment arising from acts within the scope of the employee's duties (42 Pa.C.S. § 8548(a)). The duty is mandatory, and it is lost on a willful-misconduct finding under § 8550. The who pays page compares it with New York, New Jersey and Florida.
No constitutional damages claim, and no state Section 1983
Pennsylvania does not let a person sue for damages directly under its constitution, as of our last check. In Jones v. City of Philadelphia, 890 A.2d 1188 (Pa. Commw. 2006) (en banc), the Commonwealth Court held that there is no separate cause of action for money damages under the Pennsylvania Constitution for excessive force, and it relied on the adequate remedy that Section 1983 already provides. We know of no Pennsylvania statute analogous to Section 1983. New Jersey has its Civil Rights Act and New York City has its 2021 law; we have found no Pennsylvania counterpart to either.
Why the federal claim carries the case
Put those rules together. The city is immune under state law. The officer is reachable under state law only on a finding that also strips indemnification. The state constitution supplies no damages claim. What is left is the federal claim, and it has none of those limits: compensatory damages for a proved injury (Carey v. Piphus, 435 U.S. 247 (1978)), punitive damages against the individual officer (Smith v. Wade, 461 U.S. 30 (1983)) though never the municipality (City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, 453 U.S. 247 (1981)), a reasonable attorney's fee to the prevailing party (42 U.S.C. § 1988(b)), and the city itself as a defendant where its policy or custom caused the violation (Monell v. Dep't of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978)). No state cap applies.
The federal claim borrows Pennsylvania's two-year period (42 Pa.C.S. § 5524), and accrual is a federal question: the clock starts when the plaintiff knew or should have known of the injury (Kach v. Hose, 589 F.3d 626 (3d Cir. 2009)). State notice rules do not apply to it (Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131 (1988)).
Two Pennsylvania clocks that run fast
Six months from the injury for written notice of a state-law claim to the government unit, and to the Attorney General where the defendant is a Commonwealth agency (42 Pa.C.S. § 5522(a)). 60 days from the recording for a written request for police audio or video under Act 22 of 2017 (42 Pa.C.S. ch. 67A). The Pennsylvania deadlines page has the contents of each.
Records: Act 57 of 2020 and Act 22 of 2017
Act 57 of 2020 created a statewide database of officer separation records that agencies consult when hiring. It has been operational since July 14, 2021 and is run by the Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission. Act 59 of 2020 covers mental health evaluations of officers after deadly force. Police recordings are governed by Act 22 of 2017: a written request within 60 days of the recording, by personal delivery or certified mail to the agency's open records officer, identifying the incident, the date, time and location, and the requester's relationship to it. The agency has 30 days to respond. A denial is appealed to the Court of Common Pleas within 30 days, with a $125 filing fee.
The three federal districts
Pennsylvania has three: the Eastern District (Philadelphia, Allentown, Easton, Lancaster, Reading), the Middle District (Harrisburg, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, Lewisburg) and the Western District (Pittsburgh, Erie, Johnstown) (28 U.S.C. § 118). Appeals go to the Third Circuit.
Philadelphia's totals
We have no verified year-by-year payout series for Philadelphia. What the Philadelphia Inquirer has reported is this: federal police misconduct lawsuits cost the City about $60 million in payouts over roughly 18 months, from January 2023 to September 2024, against under $7 million paid in each of 2020 and 2022 (Sept. 3, 2024); and the City paid more than $35 million in settlements to exonerees from 2018 to December 2020 (Dec. 30, 2020). Those are a newspaper's totals of what a city paid in other people's cases.
Pennsylvania figures from public records
Every Pennsylvania matter in our ledger follows. One entry, Jimmy Dennis, is a jury verdict reported to be under appeal. It is not money paid, and we have not confirmed who would pay it.
The 2020 protest cases
Tear gas on I-676 and in the 52nd Street neighborhood. About 350 plaintiffs shared the settlement, and the City added $500,000 for a counseling fund.
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Family of Walter Wallace Jr.
Shot by officers during a mental health crisis in 2020.
Source: WHYY. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Anthony Wright
Imprisoned 25 years and exonerated by DNA. The lawsuit alleged a coerced confession. The City admitted nothing.
Source: City of Philadelphia. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Chester Hollman III
Imprisoned 28 years in a case built on coerced witnesses.
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Walter Ogrod
Imprisoned 28 years.
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Jimmy Dennis
Twenty-five years on death row in a case where exculpatory evidence was withheld. This is a verdict reported to be under appeal, not money paid, and we have not confirmed who pays it.
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Estate of Jim Rogers
Repeatedly Tasered in 2021. He died the next day.
Source: WESA. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
People abused by former officer Patrick Heron
Sexual abuse by an officer the department had kept on despite sustained complaints.
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
These are other people's cases. What a case is worth depends on the injury, the evidence and the defenses, and the what a case is worth page goes through the factors. If a criminal charge from the same incident is pending, talk to your defense lawyer before describing the arrest to anyone; the criminal case and civil case page explains why.
Pennsylvania deadlines
Two years, the six-month notice and its excuses, the 60-day recordings request, and the table of clocks.
Pennsylvania clocks →Wrongful conviction compensation
Pennsylvania has no compensation statute as of our last check. What the other three states provide.
Compensation →Recovery, all four states
The federal claim against the state claims, and the comparison table for the four states.
Recovery →Common questions
Can I sue a Pennsylvania city under state law for what its police did?
Only within narrow limits. Under 42 Pa.C.S. 8541 no local agency is liable for damages except as the statute provides, and the nine exceptions in section 8542(b) all require negligent acts, such as vehicle operation or dangerous sidewalks. Intentional police misconduct is not among them. The individual officer loses official immunity where a court determines the act was a crime, actual fraud, actual malice or willful misconduct, under section 8550.
What are the Pennsylvania damages caps?
For local agencies, $500,000 in the aggregate per occurrence under 42 Pa.C.S. 8553. For Commonwealth agencies, $250,000 per plaintiff and $1,000,000 in the aggregate under section 8528. Those are statutory caps on state-law claims. They do not apply to the sexual abuse exceptions, they fall away for an employee found to have committed willful misconduct, and they do not limit a Section 1983 claim.
How long do I have in Pennsylvania?
Two years for the federal claim, borrowed from 42 Pa.C.S. 5524, with accrual decided by federal law (Kach v. Hose). Two years for the state torts as well, plus a written notice to the government unit within six months of the injury under section 5522(a). A request for police recordings under Act 22 of 2017 is due within 60 days of the recording.
Does your firm handle Pennsylvania cases?
Alexander Susi is admitted in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's three federal districts, Eastern, Middle and Western, all appeal to the Third Circuit, the same circuit as New Jersey.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.