The court’s liberal wing - Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan - echoed those concerns in a dissenting opinion released on Friday, writing that “no one should be confident that this majority is done with its work.” “And the idea we’re letting the states make those decisions, localities make those decisions, would be a fundamental shift in what we’ve done.” A whole range of rights,” President Joe Biden said of the draft opinion at the time. Fourteenth Amendment’s substantive and procedural due process, as well as equal protection claims.įor complete access to our Section 1983 Toolkit and other resources and guidance on defending Section 1983 claims, start your free trial of Practical Law today.“If the rationale of the decision as released were to be sustained, a whole range of rights are in question.Eighth Amendment protections against excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment and.Fifth Amendment protections against the government taking private property without paying for it.Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, including the use of excessive force during an arrest and detention.First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly, petition, and religion.The most common types of Section 1983 cases arise out of violations of the various rights guaranteed by the Constitution, such as: What does this mean in practice? In short, to have an actionable claim under Section 1983 the plaintiff must allege more than just a violation of federal law, they must allege the violation of a clearly established right. While Section 1983 enables a plaintiff to bring an action for a violation of their federally protected rights, it does not create any right itself. What types of violations give rise to a Section 1983 claim? A person does not need to be an employee to be “acting under color of law.” However, simply because a person is an employee of a municipality does not automatically mean they were acting under color of law either.Īn action is “under the color of law” when the person is exercising the authority given to them by the government and the action is taken with the appearance that the government authorized it, even if they are abusing that authority. Does “acting under color of law” simply mean employed by the government?

Private individuals can also be sued under Section 1983, but they must be acting on behalf of a state or local government (referred to as “acting under color of law”). In addition, local and municipal governments can be named as defendants, but neither a state nor the federal government can be sued under Section 1983. Who can be properly named as a defendant in the cause of action or who is considered a “person” under the statute? While this may seem like a straightforward issue, it is not always the case.įor example, employees and agents of local governments can be sued in both their personal and official capacity, but employees of a state can only be sued personally. Who can be a defendant in a Section 1983 action? this conduct deprived the plaintiff of rights, privileges, or immunities guaranteed under the U.S.a person subjected the plaintiff to conduct that occurred under color of state law, and.While claims brought under Section 1983 can take many different forms – such as a claim of excessive force claim under the Fourth Amendment or the denial of substantive due process under the Fourteenth Amendment – all Section 1983 claims must allege the following: Rather, plaintiff must allege that a specific right that arises from federal law (whether constitutional or statutory) has been violated. Therefore, simply alleging a violation of a federal law is not enough to give rise to a Section 1983 claim. While Section 1983 creates a remedy for seeking redress for the violation of a federally protected right, it does not create any rights itself. In our recent webinar, Anatomy of a Section 1983 Claim, we discussed the federal statute known as Section 1983 that allows people to sue certain government entities and its employees for violations of their civil rights (42 U.S.C.

List of substantive due process rights