Civil Rights Civil Filings for March 2026
Table 1. Civil Rights Civil Filings
Number Latest Month 1,740 Percent Change from previous month 11.5% Percent Change from 1 year ago -2.6% Percent Change from 5 years ago 7.4% The latest available data from the federal courts show that during March 2026 the government reported 1,740 new civil rights civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 11.5% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 1,560.
The comparisons of the number of civil filings for civil rights-related suits are based on case-by-case court records which were compiled and analyzed by TRAC (see Table 1).
When monthly 2026 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was down (-2.6%). Civil filings for March 2026 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 7.4% from levels reported in March 2021.
Figure 1. Civil Rights Civil Filings Over the Last Five Years
The long term trend in civil rights civil filings for these matters going back five years is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of civil rights civil filings of this type recorded each month. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. One-year and five-year change comparisons are based upon the moving averages.
Jurisdiction
Within limits set by Congress and the Constitution, the federal district courts have jurisdiction to hear cases falling under any one of several categories. The single largest number of civil filings of these matters during March 2026 was under the classification "Federal Question", accounting for 97.8% of civil filings.
The second largest number of matters was civil filings under the jurisdiction category of "U.S. Government Defendant" (2.2%) .
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
Relative to population, the volume of civil matters of this type filed in federal district courts during March 2026 was 5.1 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 4.8. Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of civil rights civil filings in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
Table 2. Top Ten Districts (per one million people)
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Virg, W 31.6 70 1 1 2 More Ind, N 28.9 77 2 4 4 More La, M 20.9 18 3 11 65 More Alaska 18.3 13 4 14 3 More Nevada 17.8 58 5 12 15 More N. Y., N 17.3 59 6 10 30 More Ind, S 13.8 59 7 39 82 More N. Y., W 12.8 36 8 13 13 More Fla, N 11.9 24 9 16 36 More Cal, E 11.5 97 10 6 7 More
The Western District of Virginia — with 31.6 civil filings as compared with 5.1 civil filings per one million people in the United States — was the most active during March 2026. The Western District of Virginia was ranked 1st a year ago, while it was ranked 2nd five years ago.
The Northern District of Indiana ranked 2nd. The Northern District of Indiana was ranked 4th a year ago as well as five years ago.
The Middle District of Louisiana now ranks 3rd.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge), Nevada, Western District of New York (Buffalo), Alaska, Northern District of Florida (Pensacola) and Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis), now ranked 3rd, 5th, 8th, 4th, 9th and 7th. These districts ranked 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 16th and 39th one year ago and 65th, 15th, 13th, 3rd, 36th and 82nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil rights civil filings compared to one year ago — 195.0 percent — was Southern District of Indiana. This was the same district that had the largest increase — 1056.8 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of civil rights civil filings — 19.2 percent — was Eastern District of California. This was the same district that had the largest decrease — 2.6 percent — when compared with five years ago.
Report Generated: May 7, 2026
