False imprisonment: false arrest: remedies

Victims can seek set damages when conduct likely to worsen emotional harm makes actual losses hard to quantify. The new remedy does not apply to claims against peace officers, custodial officers, or their employing public entities.

What the law does ​

• Lets a prevailing plaintiff choose $10,000 instead of actual damages for each qualifying act.
• Covers concealing identity with a face covering or attire, using restraints, forcibly transporting or detaining someone to transport them, and brandishing a deadly weapon.
• Makes liable defendants jointly and severally responsible for the statutory damages.
• Caps the statutory-damages award at $250,000 per person for each incident.
• Preserves the availability of punitive or exemplary damages.

Who it affects ​

• People who prevail in civil false-arrest or false-imprisonment lawsuits.
• Private and public defendants other than peace officers, custodial officers, and their employing public entities.