State-law claims
A police abuse case is rarely a federal claim alone. The same arrest or the same force is also a tort under state law, and in New York the state-law claim reaches the City directly, without Monell, in exchange for a notice of claim within 90 days. New York adds a statute on the right to record police and one on bias-motivated violence. New Jersey has its own Civil Rights Act with no notice requirement. Florida waives sovereign immunity up to statutory caps. This page goes through each state's claims and their clocks.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any change in the law.
The federal claim gets the attention, and it should: it carries the constitutional standards and the fee statute. But the state-law claims are the ones that add the City as a defendant on the day the complaint is filed, and they are the ones with the short clocks. Assault, battery, false arrest and false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and negligence under New York law; the Civil Rights Act and the Tort Claims Act in New Jersey; the sovereign immunity waiver in Florida. This page is a map of them. The elements of each common-law tort are not published here, because they are not in our verified ledger; what is published is which claims exist, against whom, and by when. The law page has the federal side.
New York
The torts against the City, through the notice of claim
General Municipal Law § 50-i(1) governs an action against a city, county, town or village for personal injury caused by the negligence or wrongful act of the municipality or its employees. Unlike Section 1983, it makes the City answer for what its employee did. The conditions are strict. A notice of claim must be served "within ninety days after the claim arises" (§ 50-e(1)(a)), on the Comptroller for the City of New York. At least 30 days must pass after the notice before suit. The action must be commenced "within one year and ninety days after the happening of the event" (§ 50-i(1)). The City may demand a 50-h examination within 90 days of the notice (§ 50-h). A court may allow a late notice, but only on an application made before the one-year-and-90-day period runs (§ 50-e(5)). The notice of claim page goes through each step.
The federal claim needs none of this (Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131 (1988)). That is the trade: the state-law route reaches the City directly and closes in 90 days; the federal route has three years and reaches the City only through Monell.
The right to record: Civil Rights Law § 79-p
Since July 14, 2020, New York law has given a person not under arrest the right to record law enforcement activity and to keep the recording. Officers may not prevent the recording, threaten the person, order the person to stop, or arrest the person for recording. The statute creates a civil action for damages, including punitive damages, and attorney's fees, with a three-year limitation period (N.Y. Civ. Rights Law § 79-p, Ch. 100, L. 2020). A person arrested for filming a stop has this claim beside the federal retaliatory arrest claim.
Bias-motivated violence: Civil Rights Law § 79-n
Section 79-n creates a civil action for bias-related violence or intimidation, where the conduct was motivated by the person's actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation. The remedies are injunctive relief, damages and discretionary attorney's fees. The Attorney General may also enforce it, with a civil penalty of up to $5,000; that figure is a statutory penalty payable in an Attorney General action, not a damages figure in a private one.
Wrongful death and survival
When a person dies, two claims exist. The personal representative of the estate brings a wrongful death claim within two years of the death (N.Y. EPTL § 5-4.1), and the injured person's own claim for personal injury survives the death (EPTL § 11-3.2(b)). Against the City, the 90-day notice of claim runs from the appointment of the estate's representative, and suit must be brought within two years of the death (Gen. Mun. Law §§ 50-e(1)(a), 50-i(1)). Whether the federal claim survives is decided by state survivorship law through 42 U.S.C. § 1988(a) (Robertson v. Wegmann, 436 U.S. 584 (1978)). The death in custody page goes through who sues and when.
Interest on a judgment against the City
Interest on a judgment against a municipal corporation in New York is a statutory figure: it "shall not exceed nine per centum per annum," and for wrongful death judgments the rate is 6 percent (N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law § 3-a). The damages and fees page goes through what a judgment carries.
The State: the Court of Claims
A tort claim against the State of New York, for what a State Trooper or a state prison officer did, is not brought in Supreme Court. It goes to the Court of Claims, and the claim, or a notice of intention to file a claim, must be filed and served within 90 days of accrual. A timely notice of intention extends the time to file the claim, to two years for negligence and one year for intentional torts, and late-claim relief may be sought within the CPLR period (N.Y. Court of Claims Act §§ 10(3), 10(3-b), 10(6)). The State itself cannot be sued under Section 1983 (Will v. Michigan Dep't of State Police, 491 U.S. 58 (1989)), so against the State Police or DOCCS the Court of Claims claim is the only claim against the government; the federal claim names the officers. The New York page has the agency-by-agency table.
New Jersey
The New Jersey Civil Rights Act
New Jersey has a state statute that does much of what Section 1983 does. Under N.J.S.A. 10:6-2(c), any person deprived of substantive due process or equal protection rights secured by the federal Constitution or laws, or of substantive rights secured by the New Jersey Constitution or laws, by a person acting under color of law, may sue for damages and injunctive relief. The court may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and costs (§ 10:6-2(f)). The New Jersey Supreme Court held in Owens v. Feigin, 194 N.J. 607 (2008), that the Tort Claims Act notice requirement does not apply to Civil Rights Act claims. It also held, in Morillo v. Torres, 222 N.J. 104 (2015), that qualified immunity applies to those claims as it does under Section 1983; a bill to change that, A5120, was introduced May 18, 2026, and has not been enacted. The qualified immunity page has the New Jersey rule in full. The Civil Rights Act claim and the federal claim share the two-year personal injury period (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2).
The Tort Claims Act
A tort claim against a New Jersey public entity or public employee, for assault, battery, false imprisonment or the like, is governed by the Tort Claims Act. The claim must be presented within 90 days of accrual; suit may not be filed until six months after the notice; and the claim is barred after two years (N.J.S.A. 59:8-8). A late notice may be permitted on a motion made within one year of accrual, on a showing of extraordinary circumstances and no substantial prejudice (N.J.S.A. 59:8-9). Our text of those two sections is marked for re-verification before launch; the figures are consistent with the New Jersey Supreme Court's discussion in Owens v. Feigin. The New Jersey page goes through the sequence.
Two clocks in the same New Jersey case
The tort claim needs a notice in 90 days; the Civil Rights Act claim and the federal claim do not. A person who misses the 90 days keeps the Civil Rights Act claim, with fees, against the officer and, subject to the same rules as Section 1983, the public entity. The deadline tool counts both.
Florida
The sovereign immunity waiver and its notice
Florida waives the sovereign immunity of the State and its subdivisions for torts, on conditions set out in Fla. Stat. § 768.28. A written claim must be presented to the agency and, except for a claim against a municipality or a county, to the Department of Financial Services, within three years of accrual (two years for wrongful death). The agency's failure to dispose of the claim within six months is a denial. Suit must be filed within four years (§ 768.28(6), (14)). The federal claim in Florida also has four years (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3); Doe v. Swearingen (11th Cir. 2022)), so the two clocks run together, but the state claim has the notice and the wait.
The caps
Damages against the State and its subdivisions are capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. Any excess is payable only through a claim bill passed by the Legislature. No punitive damages and no prejudgment interest may be awarded against the government (§ 768.28(5)(a)). Those are statutory caps on what the government pays under state law; they do not cap the federal claim against the individual officers. The caps were nearly raised this year. HB 145 (2026), which would have lifted them to $350,000 and $500,000 for causes accruing on or after October 1, 2026, passed the House 104 to 7 on January 15, 2026, and the Senate 36 to 0 on March 10, 2026, and was vetoed by the Governor on June 30, 2026. The caps are unchanged. The proposed figures are statutory caps that never took effect.
The officer's personal liability
Under § 768.28(9)(a), an officer has no personal liability in tort unless the officer "acted in bad faith or with malicious purpose or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property." Otherwise the exclusive state-law remedy is against the entity. That is the Florida version of the choice New York makes with the notice of claim: the state claim runs against the government, up to the caps, and the officer answers personally only for bad-faith conduct. The federal claim against the officer is unaffected.
What Florida does not have
Florida has no statute like New Jersey's Civil Rights Act or New York City's 2021 law. The Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 covers discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations; it is not a Section 1983 analogue (Fla. Stat. § 760.01). And in Garcia v. Reyes, 697 So. 2d 549 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), the court held that no damages action lies directly under the Florida Constitution for police misconduct against the State, its agencies or employees in their official capacity; our cite to that decision is marked for re-verification. The state-law route in Florida is the § 768.28 tort claim. The Florida page goes through it, and Florida matters are handled through our Aventura office.
| State | State civil rights statute | Tort claim against the government | Notice | Suit | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | N.Y.C. Admin. Code ch. 8 (NYPD only); Civ. Rights Law §§ 79-p, 79-n | Gen. Mun. Law §§ 50-e, 50-i; Court of Claims Act § 10 for the State | 90 days | 1 year and 90 days; wrongful death 2 years | None published; interest capped by Gen. Mun. Law § 3-a |
| New Jersey | N.J.S.A. 10:6-2 (no notice; qualified immunity applies) | Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:8-8, 59:8-9 | 90 days; late within 1 year | 2 years; not before 6 months | None published |
| Florida | None (Fla. Stat. § 760.01 is not an analogue) | Fla. Stat. § 768.28 | 3 years; 2 for wrongful death | 4 years; not before 6 months | $200,000 per person, $300,000 per incident; no punitive damages |
If a charge is pending
The state-law torts are about the same conduct as any criminal charge that came out of it, and the 50-h examination in New York is sworn testimony. If a charge is pending, talk to your defense lawyer before describing the arrest to anyone; the criminal case and civil case page explains how the two are sequenced.
The 90-day notice of claim
What goes in it, where it goes, the 50-h examination, late notice, and the claims it does not cover.
Notice of claim →New Jersey
The Tort Claims Act notice, the six-month wait, the two-year limit, the Civil Rights Act, and qualified immunity under state law.
New Jersey →Florida
The pre-suit notice, the six-month wait, the damages caps and the 2026 veto, officer personal liability, and the four-year federal period.
Florida →Common questions
Why bring state-law claims at all if I have a federal claim?
Because the state-law claims reach the City as employer directly, without the Monell showing the federal claim requires, and because they are decided under different rules. In New York the cost is the notice of claim within 90 days and suit within one year and 90 days. The federal claim has three years and no notice, but reaches the City only through a policy or custom.
Is there a New Jersey version of Section 1983?
Yes. The New Jersey Civil Rights Act, N.J.S.A. 10:6-2, gives a claim for damages and injunctive relief against a person acting under color of law who deprives someone of substantive due process or equal protection rights under federal law, or of substantive rights under the New Jersey Constitution or laws, with attorney's fees to the prevailing party. The Tort Claims Act notice does not apply to it, though qualified immunity does.
Does Florida have a state civil rights claim for police abuse?
Not in the way New York City and New Jersey do. The Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 covers discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations; it is not a Section 1983 analogue. A Florida appellate court has held that no damages action lies directly under the Florida Constitution for police misconduct against the State, its agencies or officials in their official capacity. The state-law route in Florida is the tort claim under the sovereign immunity waiver in section 768.28, with its notice, its caps and its four-year limit.
What if the person died?
In New York the personal representative of the estate brings a wrongful death claim within two years of the death, and the injured person's own claim survives. For a claim against the City, the 90-day notice of claim runs from the appointment of the estate's representative, and suit must be brought within two years of death. Interest on a wrongful death judgment against a municipality is a statutory figure, capped at 6 percent. The death in custody page has the rest.
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.