COLOR
OF LAW Civil Rights Violations
From FBI website at
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/civilrights/color.htm
It is a crime
for one or more persons acting under
color of law
willfully to deprive or conspire to
deprive another person of any right
protected by the Constitution or laws of
the United States.
"Color of law"
simply means that the person doing the
act is using power given to him or her
by a governmental agency (local, state
or federal).
Criminal acts
under color of law
include acts not only done by local,
state, or federal officials within the
bounds or limits of their lawful
authority, but also acts done beyond the
bounds of their lawful authority.
Off-duty conduct may also be covered
under color of law,
if the perpetrator asserted their
official status in some manner.
Color of law
may include public officials who are not
law enforcement officers, for example,
judges and prosecutors, as well as, in
some circumstances, non governmental
employees who are asserting state
authority, such as private
security guards.
While the
federal authority to investigate
color of law
type violations extends to any official
acting under
"color of law", the vast majority
of the allegations are against the law
enforcement community.
The average
number of all
federal civil rights cases
initiated by the FBI from 1997 -2000 was
3513. Of those cases initiated, about
73% were
allegations of color of law violations.
Within the color of law allegations,
about 82% were allegations of abuse of
force with violence (59% of the total
number of civil rights cases initiated).
The Supreme Court has had to interpret
the United States Constitution to
construct law regulating the actions of
those in the law enforcement community.
Enforcement of these provisions does not
require that any racial, religious, or
other discriminatory motive existed.
Investigative Areas
Most of the FBI's color of law
investigations would fall into five
broad areas:
- excessive
force;
- sexual
assaults;
-
false arrest/fabrication of
evidence;
-
deprivation of property; and
-
failure to keep from harm.
In making
arrests, maintaining order, and
defending life, law enforcement officers
are allowed to utilize whatever force is
"reasonably" necessary. The breath and
scope of the use of force is vast. The
spectrum begins with the physical
presence of the official through the
utilization of deadly force. While some
types of force used by law enforcement
may be violent by their very nature,
they may be considered "reasonable,"
based upon the circumstances. However,
violations of federal law occur where it
can be shown that the force used was
willfully "unreasonable" or "excessive"
against individuals.
Sexual assaults by officials acting
under "color of
law" could happen in a variety of
venues. They could occur in court
scenarios, jails, and/or traffic stops
to name just a few of the settings where
an official might use their position of
authority to coerce another individual
into sexual compliance.
The compliance is
generally gained because of a threat of
an official action against the other if
they do not comply.
The Fourth Amendment of the United
States Constitution guarantees the right
against unreasonable searches or
seizures. A law enforcement official
using his authority provided under the
"color of law" is allowed to stop
individuals and even if necessary to
search them and retain their property
under certain circumstances.
It is in the abuse
of that discretionary power that a
violation of a person's civil rights
might occur. An unlawful detention or an
illegal confiscation of property would
be examples of such an abuse of power.
An official would violate the
color of law
statute by
fabricating evidence against or
conducting a false arrest of an
individual.
That
person's rights of due process and
unreasonable seizure have been violated.
In the case of deprivation of property,
the official would violate the
color of law
statute by unlawfully obtaining or
maintaining the property of another. In
that case, the official has overstepped
or misapplied his authority.
The Fourteenth Amendment secures the
right to due
process and the Eighth Amendment
also prohibits the use of
cruel and unusual
punishment. In an arrest or
detention context, these rights would
prohibit the use of
force amounting to punishment (summary
judgment).
The idea being that a person accused of
a crime is to be allowed the opportunity
to have a trial and not be subjected to
punishment without having been afforded
the opportunity of the legal process.
The public entrusts its law enforcement
officials with protecting the community.
If it is shown that
an official
willfully failed to keep an individual
from harm that official could be in
violation of the color of law statute.
Filing a
Complaint
In order to file a complaint alleging a
violation of the criminal laws discussed
above, you may contact your local FBI
office by telephone, in writing, or in
person. The following information should
be provided:
- all
identifying information for the
victim(s);
- as much
identifying information as possible
for the subject(s), including
position, rank, and agency
employed;
- date and
time of incident;
- location
and time of incident;
- names,
addresses, and telephone numbers of
any witness(es);
- a complete
chronology of events; and
- any report
numbers and charges with respect to
the incident.
You may also
contact the United States Attorney's
Office in your district, or send a
written complaint to:
Criminal Section
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 66018
Washington, D.C. 20035-6018
Investigations vary in length and
although there are internal limitations,
the investigation will proceed to its
logical conclusion. The FBI is the
investigative component of the
Department of Justice. It is, therefore,
not responsible for the prosecution of a
case. That is the responsibility of the
Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.,
and the United States Attorney's Office
within the local jurisdiction. After the
FBI has completed its investigation, it
forwards its findings to the United
States Attorney's Office and to the
Department of Justice. They then make
the determination as to whether to
proceed toward prosecution or not.
Civil
Applications
Title 42, U.S.C., Section 14141,
makes it unlawful for state or local law
enforcement agencies to allow officers
to engage in a pattern or practice of
conduct that deprives persons of rights
protected by the Constitution or laws of
the United States. This law is commonly
referred to as the Police Misconduct
Statute. This law gives DOJ the
authority to seek civil remedies in
cases where it is determined that law
enforcement agencies have policies or
practices which foster a pattern of
misconduct by employees. This action is
directed against an agency, not against
individual officers. The types of issues
which may initiate a Pattern and
Practice investigation include:
Lack of supervision/monitoring of
officers' actions.
Officers not providing justification or
reporting incidents involving the use of
force.
Lack of, or improper training of
officers.
A department having a
citizen complaint process which treats
complainants as adversaries.
Under Title 42,
U.S.C., Section 1997, DOJ has the
ability to initiate civil actions
against mental hospitals, retardation
facilities, jails, prisons, nursing
homes, and juvenile detention
facilities, when there are allegations
of
systemic derivations of the
constitutional rights of
institutionalized persons.
Also see
Department of Justice
8-1.000 CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION
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