When we formed the United States Constitution and Montana Constitution, the people reserved to themselves certain individual rights and also created civil rights. Such civil rights include, the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, the right of privacy, and the right to be free from excessive use of force.
Our laws state that when these rights are violated, we have a remedy at law. The person who violates these rights could be individuals or a government agency. There are different standards of liability depending on whether it is an individual or government.
If the violator is the government, the burden of proof is higher because the State is a sovereign entity and protects itself (through law) from liability to a certain degree, although the government can still be held liable for violating your civil rights.
These cases are not normally “easy”, especially when you sue the government. The government has tax dollars to spend on hiring an attorney and defending against your lawsuit. They have resources that individuals normally do not have, and they know well how to exhaust you during the lawsuit, to the point that you will become frustrated throughout the process.Therefore, it is important to have an attorney who knows Civil Rights law and how to litigate these cases.