To sustain a S 1983 civil rights action, a plaintiff must show "(1) that the conduct complained of was committed by a person acting under color of state law; and (2) that [such] conduct deprived the plaintiff of a federal constitutional or statutory right."
2
Wood v. Ostrander, 879 F.2d 583, 587 (9th Cir. 1989), cert. denied,
498 U.S. 938
(1990). Here, it is undisputed that defendants were acting under color of state law. At issue here is whether Officer Smith, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, or Sacramento County engaged in conduct that deprived Lewis of a federally protected right.
The Supreme Court has held that "[w]here a particular amendment `provides an explicit textual source of constitutional protection' against a particular sort of government behavior, `that Amendment, not the more generalized notion of `substantive due process,' must be the guide for analyzing these claims." Albright v. Oliver,
510 U.S. 266
, 114 S. Ct. 807, 813 (1994) (plurality opinion) (quoting Graham v. Connor,
490 U.S. 386, 395
(1989))
Nye Frank on 24 Nov 09"LAMBDA Gay & Lesbian Ant-Violence Project (AVP) TO REPORT A HATE CRIME, CLICK HERE. What is a hate crime ? Depending upon where you live, a hate crime is a criminal act which is motivated, at least in part, because of someone's bias or hatred of a person's or group's perceived race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or other characteristic. When a crime is a "hate crime", the victim is intentionally selected because of his or her race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. A number of federal and state laws prohibit acts or threats of violence, as well as harassment and discrimination, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender and/or disability. Some laws also include political affiliation, and age, though federal and state laws vary greatly. A crime is classified as bias-motivated (or a hate crime) when it is clear that the offender's criminal actions were motivated, in whole or in part, by bias. LAMBDA GLBT Community Services takes hate crimes and other anti-GLBT incidents very seriously. LAMBDA works together with law enforcement, judicial, and victim services agencies to eliminate and respond to such incidents. Reporting hate-related incidents and domestic violence helps survivors take advantage of recovery services and enables our community to build up statistics and patterns of crime, providing an opportunity of catching offenders or prevent the violence altogether. Hate crime statutes are designed to send the message that hate-motivated crimes, because they are often attempts to silence and instill fear into entire groups, will not be tolerated. More... click here Why should I report hate incidents? When such incidents are invisible, it is harder to protect against them. Careful documentation and statistics are very important tools in fighting such op
Cached